Meeting Charlie Q
by fortheloveoffaberry
Summary: When Rachel creates a blog to showcase her talents, she gets more than she bargained for when she finds the blog of Ms. Charlie Q; an intricate, interesting, and captivating writer. Little does Rachel know... she just may know who Charlie Q really is.
1. When Rachel Found Charlie

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters. **

**A/N: Please review and let me know how you feel about this story, I'm not very confident in it yet haha; thank you so much for reading. Enjoy!**

Rachel hummed a mindless tune as she clicked the final buttons to bring her new blog to life. She thought it was time she put her name out there – besides on the "Awardees" lists for various contests. Yes, it was time she became personal with all of her potential, and inevitable, fans. She thought it was better to start early, especially if she could get a buzz around her name.

After quickly reblogging a picture of her favorite quote she had seen earlier while perusing the web (another reason she had joined Tumblr), she typed up her first real post (the picture doesn't count). She kept it simple, but she supposed if the others in the Glee Club read it they would tell her how it's too long and how no one is going to read it.

Being Rachel Berry, she had more faith than that and smiled as she tagged the post, "Rachel's Real Words." She quickly contemplated on her future fans understanding of the tag as a means to keep track of all the posts _she_ actually wrote. Just in case someone wouldn't get it, she added, "that should be an appropriate tag yes?" Rachel smiled again in excitement as she pulled up her actual webpage. It was perfect. Simple, delicate, and _pink_. She read over her post again with a satisfied grin; it was the start of the beginning.

For the first time in a while Rachel actually felt light and carefree. She was finally getting along with most everyone in Glee Club, slushy attacks were less frequent, Finn was finally her boyfriend, and she even believes that she got the one and only Quinn Fabray to smile at her the other day. Yes, things were starting to look up, and this post was only evidence of that.

She really mustn't forget this monumental occasion. She clicked to the other tab to edit her post, adding one final tag; "my first post."

"_Where to start, where to start,"_ Rachel thought to herself as she began perusing the blogs she could follow. There were _so many_, how could she ever decide which blogs to follow? Would other blogs get jealous that the one and only Rachel Berry wasn't following them? She didn't want to hurt their feelings!

She shook her head as her thoughts became a little too ridiculous.

"_Hmm…oh! Maybe I can find blogs that are just starting out too!" _The brunette smiled at her idea and typed in "my first post" into the search bar. Her latest post was at the top the list, and she hummed happily thinking that if anyone were to search the same thing she would get the most notice for being the first one they see. Rachel scrolled the seemingly never endless amount of posts, looking for one that may catch her eye.

"_Maybe this was a terrible idea"_ Rachel thought as she scrolled past pictures of… men's nether regions, women's upper regions (that just _maybe_ she stared a little too long at, but she wasn't going to acknowledge that fact), and other posts that consisted of terrible manner and/or grammar.

She was just about to click the exit button when she happened upon a post that entranced her. She didn't know if it was the username "Theheadqueerio" or the fact that music was the first thing the person listed that they liked, but _something_ was drawing her in.

"_**Theheadqueerio**_**: Okay Let's Do This:**

"Hey, I'm Charlie. I like music, art, books, coffee, and writing. I've started this blog because I need an outlet. Somewhere I can just be _me._ I've been down and out lately because a lot of stress in my actual life. I can barely stand to hear my real name anymore.

In these past two tumultuous years I have come to terms with myself - the real me, if you will. I want to be a better person. I want to be out to my friends and family, and stand strong in who I am, no matter what they say. I still have the occasional breakdown, but I'm working on making myself bigger and better each day. I'm apologizing to those I've done wrong, and I'm stepping into a new light. I'm ready to stop hiding. This is me. This blog is me. I am me.

I hope that this blog becomes my safe haven. Just a place to relax, really be myself, and meet new people.

Life's short and passes by in a hurry - I might as well make the most of it.

Cheers,

Charlie Q."

Maybe it was the fact that Charlie just paraphrased her favorite quote (from the picture she had just posted a few minutes prior!), maybe it was the way Charlie Q delightfully rolled off her tongue when she reread the post out loud, or maybe it was the fact that Charlie sounded like he (or she) was going through similar things as herself – trying to come to terms with things, working on being better, but still being herself – that urged Rachel to click the post's little heart button, and open up Charlie's main blog.

She noted how elegant Charlie's theme was (_"and is that a gardenia in the sidebar?") _as she reread the post, noticing that it had been posted just two days prior. Rachel looked through Charlie's posts slowly, taking each one in. Each post had a set of tags that seemed to show what Charlie was thinking. Occurring through most of the posts was the tag, "to the one" or "about the one." She couldn't help it; she was hooked. She desperately wanted to know who "the one" was. Maybe she was just too curious for her own good.

There may have only been few posts on Charlie's blog (Rachel wasn't quite sure whether or not Charlie was a girl or boy, so she just stuck with calling Charlie… well, Charlie), but after each one she felt like she understood Charlie more. She actually felt like she was intruding into something personal. It wasn't hard to see that each post had meaning behind it in Charlie's eyes.

"_Or maybe I'm just getting too worked up, like I tend to do."_

She shook her head trying to get a grip, but undoubtedly something was drawing her in, though. Rachel wasn't kidding when she said she had a sixth sense. She knew that this was going to be the start of something bigger than just a blog about herself. Charlie had _moved_ her and Rachel hadn't even talked to them yet.

"_Oh, why the heck not?"_

She threw caution to the wind and clicked away to Charlie's, "Let's Talk" link; also making sure to click the follow button right before typing away her first message to Charlie.


	2. Quinn and Charlie

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed. All mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy!**

Quinn fumed into her cream-colored room, pacing around trying desperately to calm down. She thought to herself over and over, running her hands through her short blonde hair_, 'No, you shouldn't be angry right now, Quinn. You're starting over. You're becoming a better person. Better people do not blow up for no good reason towards people who are just trying to help._'

The blonde internally debated with herself as she flung her tired body onto the bed, "_She might have been trying to help, but all she did was agitate me further. I am trying to come to terms with everything, I don't need her butting in on it, _especially_ if she doesn't even know the real issue. I was doing so _well."

She groaned into her pillow and slammed a fist down into the mattress as she tried to listen to the reasonable side of her brain, "_I know you were, Quinn. You were doing so much better; but she just wants to be your friend. She seems to care about you. Cut her some slack, after everything you've done to her you should be grateful she still gives a damn; and also, Quinn, with your feelings and how they are you should be _more_ than grateful."_

Slowly and deliberately, Quinn sat up sighing and grabbed her laptop. She opened the computer and pressed the 'on' button as she sat against the hard wooden headboard. _"Maybe, that's true, but I can't deal with it right now. I need to escape."_

Her subconscious didn't fight back anymore as the machine on her lap buzzed to life.

She pulled up the website that was quickly becoming familiar to her and arched her eyebrow in surprise when she noticed a red box with a white '1' in it over her inbox. It was the first messaged she had ever received since she had made her blog, even though she seemed to be quickly gaining followers – fifteen in three days she noted happily.

Though she was curious to read the message, her mind wasn't ready to formulate a response to _anything._ Quinn, instead, moved her slender fingers over the tracpad and moved the mouse over the new text post option.

As soon as the text field opened, Quinn let her mind shut off and her heart take over– pushing away all of her insecurities and let all of her true thoughts and feelings emerge – allowing Charlie to come through. Charlie's fingers danced easily over the letters of the keyboard as she typed the feelings that Quinn always pushed deep down within herself.

Her eyes scanned each word as they began to formulate the sentences that Quinn could never speak aloud – especially as herself – and quickly Quinn's heavy heart was replaced with a happy vibrancy that was Charlie.

Charlie wrote about how her week had been going; along with things about her friends and family. She poured everything out that had been bothering her before she stormed into her room. She wrote about how she was coming to terms with her new found sexuality – though she believed it had really been there all along – and about a certain petite brunette that had upset set her not twenty minutes earlier. Hell, she wasn't even upset with her, but _herself._ She kept falling into old habits, snapping at the girl when she had just been trying to help her.

Charlie let it all out; she wasn't afraid. Here, on her special blog, no one knew her. No one knew Quinn. Charlie could be whomever she wanted to be, say whatever she wanted to, post whatever she wanted to, and in extension, Quinn could too.

She ended her post with what she thought of her standard goodbye, "Cheers, Charlie Q," and tagged the post in what she called her calling card, "Charlie writes." Satisfied, and an immense weight lifted off her chest, Charlie clicked the post button.

Wanting to enjoy her solitude just a bit longer, she continued to ignore the message in her inbox and scrolled her dashboard. She reblogged photographs and quotes and anything that enticed her, making sure to add her own little feelings into the tags. Charlie liked to feel involved with what she was posting, connected and understanding of it. This blog was hers, and she was going to make sure every single ounce of it showed who she really was.

Charlie was Quinn and Quinn was Charlie. They were the same person. At first Quinn teased herself saying that she was getting DID, but soon realized that this was just her relaxing and Charlie is just what she called herself when she needed to break free from the turmoil that was her life. Even if she only felt comfortable showing her Charlie side in her own room and to the online world, it didn't mean that Charlie wasn't with her in her classes, or in Glee Club, or just driving down the road. Quinn was Charlie, it was just that Charlie was too hard to expose. Quinn's head was still trying to get away from wanting to have the high social status, and she was afraid that if she let her Charlie side show that Charlie would be tainted and her only happy side would be gone forever; lost to the terrible tragedy that was her life.

So Charlie, or rather the sweet and free side of Quinn, was confined to Quinn's bedroom, only to be released into the cyber web. Of course, that meant Quinn couldn't really be happy anywhere else. She wouldn't allow herself to be. It would mean risking the only part of her mind and soul that still had feeling and happiness within it, and there was no way in Hell Quinn would be risking that.

As she continued to feel lighter and lighter, Charlie finally decided she was ready to read her very first message. She was jittery with nerves and excitement as she clicked the small envelope icon.

"Hi Charlie! I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely adore your blog. I'm really happy I found it, and I can't wait to see what other great posts are to come!"

It was from an anonymous person but none-the-less the message made a smile grace Charlie's face in the soft glow of the screen.

She quickly typed a reply as her mother called her down for dinner.


	3. I Just Have An Admiration

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed. All mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy!**

As Rachel left her ballet class in tight black tanktop and windpants, her mind filled with the person whom had been occupying her thoughts almost constantly for two days. She hadn't been able to check Charlie's blog since she left Charlie her message, and was worrying that maybe her message had been too short, too sweet, too… something?

Her mind was going into the whirlwind that frequently occurred when she got too caught up in something, and try as she might she just couldn't get it to stop this time, (_"I wonder if Charlie has read it yet? Responded yet? Maybe I got Charlie to smile; I hope I did. I wonder if Charlie has nice teeth?), _that was until she ran into a person turning around in front of her, effectively bumped their heads together.

"Oh my god, ouch," the woman groaned, putting her hand to her mouth as Rachel yelped and covered her forehead from the sudden pain.

The brunette's eyes widened comically as she realized what happened; not only had she ran into someone, she had run into Quinn!

"Oh Barbra, I'm so, so sorry Quinn! I hadn't seen you," blindful nervousness coursed through Rachel's veins that caused her to step forward and place her hand on the area of Quinn's chin she had bumped into, and maybe if she hadn't been so consumed with her nervous rambling she would've caught Quinn's breath hitching.

"Did I hurt you? Please say you're okay; I really didn't mean to bump into you. Obviously if I had seen you standing there I would've moved to avoid causing us injury, and furthermore.."

Quinn bit her lip to keep from smiling at Rachel's antics, "Rachel. Rachel, breathe."

It seemed to Quinn that Rachel's already wide eyes widened further as she noticed what she was doing. The brunette stepped back and took a deep breath; with an embarrassed small smile she said, "sorry."

"No, no, don't be. I'm actually kind of glad you ran into me." Rachel tilted her head in confusion, silently urging Quinn to go on.

"I, uhm, I've been meaning to talk to you. It's about the other day."

Immediately, Rachel started off rambling.

"Oh, please, Quinn, don't worry about it. What you said to me I fully deserved. I shouldn't have been prying into your life. It's none of my business and though I didn't understand that when we argued, I've been thinking about it and I have now realized the errors of my ways; I really hope you forgive me Quinn. I really like having you as a friend and I'd hate to have things revert back to our old ways."

As soon as Rachel noticed Quinn's eyebrow raised her mouth slammed shut, _"You really need to learn to get a grip on yourself sometimes, Rachel."_

Quinn smiled softly at her - _"that's odd," _Rachel thought_ -_ and shook her head.

"Rachel, I meant that I've been meaning to talk to you so _I_ could apologize."

"_Wait what?"_ Rachel looked up at Quinn thoroughly confused, "Wait what?"

Gathering her courage, Quinn straightened her back and met Rachel's chocolate brown eyes that she couldn't really ever get to leave her mind.

"Rachel, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You were just trying to help. It actually means a lot to me that you care, and honestly, Rachel, I'm really grateful for that."

Rachel couldn't help it, her jaw dropped and her arms that were previously crossed across her abdomen fell; "wait what?"

Quinn bit lip nervously, "_did I break her?_"

"I mean it, Rachel. I thought long and hard about this. So, please, accept my apology?" Quinn stomach was rolling in fear and anticipation as Rachel continued to just stare slack jawed at her.

Despite Rachel's lax exterior, her mind was moving at 1000 miles a minute, "_She's apologizing? Sure, not for everything in the past, but _still,_ this is _Quinn Fabray_, apologizing to her. Is that even possible? Well, apparently because she just did. She looks so nervous. And expectant. Wait, I'm supposed to say something, aren't I?"_

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief as Rachel put on a smile and straightened up, "Quinn, I accept your apology, but I still hope that you accept mine."

A big smile that Rachel didn't even know was able to grace Quinn's face appeared, "Yeah, Rach, I can do that."

Rachel matched her smile as she heard Quinn call her 'Rach'; what Rachel didn't hear however was the "_Anything for you"_ that was ringing throughout Quinn's head.

"Well, this has been a surprisingly pleasant conversation, Quinn, but I'm afraid I have to be going; my fathers are awaiting my presence for dinner."

Rachel immediately felt guilty for lying, but she couldn't possibly tell Quinn the true reason. The brunette just really, really, _really,_ wanted to read Charlie's blog.

"That's okay; I have to be home anyway. My mom is wanting to have a 'mother-daughter bonding dinner," Quinn rolled her eyes, but then smiled at Rachel good naturedly. "It was nice seeing you, Rachel. Have a nice night."

As Quinn walked away she turned around, walking backwards, "and by the way, you look really good."

Before Rachel even had time to process it, Quinn was turned away walking briskly down the side walk. Rachel blushed harder than she had in a long time, and smiled as the continued on her walk home.

Rachel walked into her silent house with a smile, Quinn and Charlie dancing around in her mind. She had been surprised to say the least, when Quinn had apologized to her and even more surprised when she complimented her, but it quite frankly made her want to hop around and squeal.

She and Quinn were finally moving on, finally becoming _friends._

She climbed the stairs and entered her room imagining having Quinn over for a sleepover sometime, "_Maybe I could show her Charlie's blog."_

Her mind switched over to Charlie and she happily skipped over to her computer desk, moving her mouse to make the screen come to life. She plopped down unceremoniously in her desk chair and typed in the url to take her to see her dashboard. She scrolled for a little while looking at various posts and pictures from blogs she had followed after sending Charlie the message, only refraining from checking Charlie's blog because she wanted to convince herself that she wasn't _totally_ obsessed.

When curiosity got the best of her, she clicked the address bar and typed in the url she had quickly memorized, "theheadqueerio .tumblr .com."

Soon the webpage was filled with the white and blue blog that entranced Rachel's mind and heart. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw that the answer to her question was the latest post.

"**Anonymous Asked: **_Hi Charlie! I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely adore your blog. I'm really happy I found it, and I can't wait to see what other great posts are to come!"_

"**Charlie: **I can't express to you the smile that I got when I read your message. Thank you so much !"

Now her heart was skipping multiple beats and a smile was threatening to break her face. She had gotten a response! She debated what to message Charlie next. She didn't want Charlie to think that she was a crazy obsessed stalker.

"_Well you have been thinking non-stop about 'em."_

"_Oh be quiet, I'm not a stalker."_

"_Are you sure? You _have_ been obsessing."_

"_No, I just have an admiration for Charlie's blog, writing, and feelings."_

"_Kinda weird, Berry."_

"_Shut up."_

Rachel shook her head to get her debating thoughts from her mind, deciding that she was not really creepy or weird as she scrolled through Charlie's latest posts.

She read the tags for each one, still getting caught up in the posts that were tagged "to the one." The brunette desperately wanted to know, as each post about "the one" revolved around things that said "words, how little they mean when you're a little too late" or about the feelings Charlie felt around "the one."

But more-so than last time, Rachel was enthralled with the posts that Charlie used to describe him or herself. There were posts of bookstores and tourist sites tagged "adventures to seek" and quotes about demons and strength tagged "words to remember." Her favorite posts were the art posts of paintings and exhibits. She thought it let her see into Charlie's interests and how she thought.

Soon, she landed on a music video that Charlie had posted, not just reblogged. She watched it and smiled as the video wore on. It was amazing. It was creative and interesting and fascinating – just like Charlie. She smiled as she read the excited comment Charlie made about the video:

"**MS MR – Fantasy -**

How amazing is this video though! Cheerleaders vomiting glitter, great camera angles and shots, the lead singing and just standing there with senior citizens. This is creative genius in my eyes, and I could not be happier to have found this video. Not only that, but the music is great too!"

Indeed, the video was creative genius; Rachel made a mental note to take notes about the creativity in the video for her future music video endeavors (ignoring the thoughts about her Run Joey Run video) – "_How haven't I thought of this stuff?!"_

Her breath caught when she realized the next post was Charlie's writing. Her eyes poured over it eagerly;

"Hello dears!

"First off and foremost, thank you so much for following me! It hasn't even been a week and I already have more than I expected to get in a couple months. I hope that my blog will continue to bring you a smile for as long as this blog lives.

"Today I just plan to get everything off my chest. Maybe it will help you understand me better, and maybe you don't really care at all, ("_yeah, right_," Rachel thought), but anyhow I think it will help me clear my mind.

"Since I have started this blog, I've been in a better mood; not completely smiley and happy, but better. This is really helping me out, I think. Besides that tiny bubble of goodness, this week hasn't been that spectacular besides what happened with the one, earlier today."

Rachel's breath caught for a countless time, "_Charlie's going to talk about the one?"_

Her eyes continued on, even more captivated.

"School was a drag; I swear, those teachers - specifically one of them whose name I will not mention - care more about getting a hard-on in the janitor's closet with the guidance counselor than actually giving us students a chance at a successful education. Honestly, they are probably there for the paid summers off as teachers than anything else. I don't care what their mission statement on their syllabuses say, that's complete bullshit."

Rachel didn't even care about the profanity because Charlie cared about education as much as she did it seemed! She chuckled at how much Charlie's statement about the janitor closest reminded her of Mr. Shue.

"Besides the stupidity that is my school, I also have had to deal with my family and friends. They almost all think they know exactly what is going on with me, or they ignore me completely. I hate how it has to be one side of the scale or the other. Why can't there ever be a balance? Why can't something finally fall into place for once?

"Right as I was coming to terms with this and seeing it as just a few high school students more conceited than being able to see what was _really_ going on with me, the one comes up to me and doesn't _tell_ me what's wrong with me, but actually _asks_. Then all of my feelings bubbled up, and being the woman I am out in the real world," woman! Rachel smiled, finally knowing the gender of the person that was stealing her thoughts, "I pushed them back down at the fear of being vulnerable to the one. That couldn't and can't happen because of the simple fact that I was also coming to terms with the fact that I will _never_ be able to have her as my own; but here she came, tentatively approaching me at my locker to ask me if I was _okay,_ and if something was the _matter,_ with nothing but complete _concern_ in her eyes.

"So, so badly I wanted to pull her into a hug and whisper softly that her just asking me made me feel better than I had in years, but then the pain of realizing that I could never do that made me snap at her. I told her it wasn't any of her damn business and that I was perfectly fine without her there breathing down my throat. I felt so terribly guilty, I wasn't even mad at her, and just wanted to cry and take her in my arms and whisper how much I love her and how I never ever meant to hurt her - now or in the past.

"How could I do that though? I couldn't bare to see her look at me with suspicious and incredulous eyes. It's better to keep her at an arm's length, than to let her in, only to lose her. I couldn't handle that. I couldn't handle hurting her _really._ Snapping at her… it's always been a part of our dynamic. I have realized now that it was my way of pushing away my attraction to her. And now, it's either habit or fear or both, because I _try_. I really _try,_ ya know? I want her happy, and I know that I could never even get the chance to be the one to do that for her. She deserves better than me, and even if it hurts so incredibly badly to snap at her and try to ignore her and watch her with her oaf of a boyfriend, I know that I will never be what is good for her. I can't put myself in a position to hurt her more than I've already have.

"The bright side, however, is that of all the other things I'm coming to terms with, I have finally accepted the fact that, yes, I'm a lesbian. I thought at first that I only had these urges and feelings for the one, and while my feelings for her are _real_ intense love and adoration, I also see now that I do admire other women more likely than deemed "normal."

"And strangely, I'm okay with that, even though I most likely will never feel the way I do for the one for anyone else. Honestly, I'm surprised I've made it this far in being comfortable with my sexuality. But I have, and really, I'm proud of myself - which is a very, very difficult thing for me to say.

"I think this is a good place to let off. I feel much better now that I've gotten that all off my chest. I hope you don't mind me rambling though!

"Cheers,

Charlie Q."

The brunette slumped in her chair as she took all of Charlie's words in. This poor girl was broken, but trying to be strong. She couldn't get the one she loved, and Rachel knew that, that had to be incredibly painful for Charlie.

What got to her more though was how much she seemed to have in common with Charlie, in regards to the conversation Charlie had with "the one." It sounded oddly similar to the argument she had, had with Quinn.

Rachel decided that this was the perfect way to get closer to the mysterious, broken girl. She opened up the Let's Talk page once more, and typed away to the girl that she desperately wanted to know more about.


	4. When Quinn Found Rachel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters; I do not own the lyrics to the song in the chapter.**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed. All mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy! I hope this chapter is as big to you as it is to me.  
**

Head down, eyeing the phone that was hidden in her novel, Quinn tuned out the overly-bright voice of William Shuester. Glee club had been agonizingly droll lately so the blonde didn't think it would matter if she didn't pay attention _just _this once.

She opened up the tumblr app on her white iPhone and decided that as long as nobody was paying attention to her she could let Charlie out minutely.

"_We'll be okay, right now, Charlie, everyone is either asleep or daydreaming." _Quinn nodded resolutely as she clicked the new text post option.

Expertly navigating the touchpad keyboard, while trying to still look like she was only tracing the book's lines, Charlie emerged to type out Quinn's thoughts and feelings.

She couldn't help the roll in her stomach that occurred as she wrote about how Rachel and Finn held hands in the front row. She grimaced as she continued, "_freaking Hudson and his freaking meaty hands holding her totally non-manly hands. I bet his hand is crazy clammy."_

_Her face contorted as she mocked Finn in her head, "Oh look at me, I'm star quarterback, and I can't hold in my ejaculation!"_

A few chairs from Quinn, Santana snorted, "What was that, Q?"

The blonde felt heat rise to her cheeks and ears as she embarrassingly realized she had said the last part out loud, and scanned the rest of the room for those who might have heard. Thankfully (or maybe not so thankfully with the way Santana was looking at her), Santana seemed to be the only one who heard Quinn's musings.

"Nothing, S, just talking to myself." Quinn looked down at her phone again, struggling to control her blush.

The darker girl snorted again and shook her head, "yeah, right, Tubbers."

Rolling her eyes and shifting away from Santana, Quinn looked down again at her phone debating whether or not she could let Charlie out here again or just wait until she got home to finish writing her rant.

"_I'm sorry for even risking you, Char."_

The blonde saved the post as a draft and decided that instead of refocusing on another of Shue's eighties rock lectures she should answer the messages she noticed she had, and then get to know her followers. Since they had done the kind task of following her, she thought it would be best to make a short list of the usernames and thank them all in a 'kind followers' or 'follow forever' post.

She opened up her inbox, again with nerves and happy jitters coursing through her veins, "_Maybe there will be a sweet one again."_

She tilted her head as she read the words of the two part message a few times over, "_Hm, not necessarily sweet, but caring? I'm happy that I helped her see from a different perspective, but? Huh."_

She furrowed her brow as she contemplated how to reply to the anonymous message. She let out her feelings in regards to how the sender said that she "shouldn't give up hope" and how she "never knows what could happen" and the "She just might like you back." The blonde scoffed, "_what does this anon know?" _

Quinn had given up hope a long time ago, she realized that her response was more than a little self-deprecating, but it didn't matter. It was how she felt, and though she tucked Charlie away, she decided that Quinn could make a least one post.

Her heart warmed, thankfully, as she clicked the followers button, noticing that she had gained five more followers in the last couple of days; giving her an even twenty.

She quickly grabbed a pencil and wrote the usernames in the margin of her book, to make sure she wouldn't forget who they were as she wrote her post.

"_imustknowwhy… raggedymanandameliapond… carthonasi… shadow-box-photos… kelseyshea… acciodiannaagron, oh her icon is pretty she looks like me… savingmyvoice…" _Quinn smiled as she wrote the names, that was, until the color drained from her features and she held the phone as close to her face as could without going cross eyed, "_oh my god is that Rachel? That looks like her in the icon? Oh my god oh my god."_

"Quinn!" She jumped, falling backwards in her chair when Mr. Shue called out for her to put her phone away, until her back slammed to the hard ground and the chair dug painfully into her back.

"_Oh my god," _she thought over and over even though the air was knocked out of her and voices that seemed as if they were being spoken through layers and layers of cotton were practically screaming at her asking if she was okay and a certain petite brunette's hand that was wrapped around hers trying to help her up.

"_How did she find my blog? How did she know? _Does_ she know? There's _no_ way, I haven't said my name once! Oh my god, oh my god, this can't be happening."_

After it took half of the Glee club to get Quinn back upright, a half dozen insults in spanish from Santana, a muttered "are you okay?" from Rachel, the class sat back in their respective chairs, Shue resuming lecturing, and Quinn regaining her breath, she finally clicked to 'savingmyvoice's' blog.

If the "Hello, I'm Rachel Berry" in the description didn't confirm who the blog belonged to, the multiple pictures of New York and Broadway as well as Rachel's favorite quote "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it" as the first post, might have been a dead giveaway.

Quinn desperately tried to control her breathing, as it became _more_ than apparent that it was indeed the one and only Rachel Berry following her blog. Her _safe haven._ A place where she could be _herself,_ without the fear of having to maintain her perfect façade or the fear of having to hide her sexuality or love interests. Where she could be _happy._

"_Quinn, you want _her_ to be your happiness."_

"_But this is _mine."

"_Yeah, but if you were to be in a relationship with her you know you'd have to be open. There would be no "Quinn and Charlie" there would just be _you._ She'd have all of you, Quinn. We don't even know if she knows that it's your blog. She may only think it's Charlie's."_

"_But what are the chances? There is barely any chance that she would just randomly find _my_ blog."_

"_Like the anon said, "you never know.""_

"_Oh my god…"_

"_What?"_

"_What if _she_ wrote the message?"_

"_...that would be a good sign. What if it _isn't _her?"_

""_She just might like you back" oh my god! She likes me back!"_

"_Now, Quinn, the message didn't say that. We don't even know for sure if it's her!"_

"_Oh my god, oh my god, she likes me back. She said to "prove it" oh my god. I have a CHANCE!"_

"_Quinn… please don't get yourself too excited. She's still with Finn, and we don't even know anything else for sure."_

"_Oh my god, oh my god, I'm going to look over the rest of her blog and I'm going to follow her back and I'm going to message her and I'm just going to act like Charlie - just in case - but oh my god, oh my _god._ And in the first message she said she _liked _my blog. She LIKED my blog!"_

"_Get a grip on yourself."_

"_SHE LIKED MY BLOG."_

"Q…?" Brittany gently nudged Quinn's shoulder with her own. She was getting worried; Quinn's face was looked like a big red tomato, and the smile she had on her face was so big that it was more than a little terrifying.

Quinn was too enthralled with Rachel's first post to really hear Brittany's concern.

"_**Savingmyvoice:**_** Hello I'm Rachel Berry!**

"Pleasure to meet you all! I'm making this blog as a head start to jump into the social media sphere before my big debut on Broadway. Admittedly, that most likely will not be until a couple of years, as you see right now I'm getting ready to attend college in order to solidify my talents even further."

"_God, she's so cute and ambitious," _thought Quinn silently.

"A good education is key into creating a good life! My fathers always told me that as I grew up, and though at first I didn't take to it because of constant bullying at school, I've come to appreciate the fact that having the appropriate knowledge has gotten me so much further already.

"My goals for this blog are to share my feelings and thoughts with everyone out there who may be my future fans. I have always liked the idea of getting to know my (future) fans, and I thought this would be an excellent way to start.

"I am not certain how frequently I can update this blog because I have so much going on already - with classes, auditions, friends, and family; oh! And Glee Club!

"Glee Club is my second passion - next to Broadway, of course. I can really let loose there with all of my, dare I say it, _friends._ It has been a long hard journey to get to the point where I can call them such a term, but frankly I'm glad I was able to get that far.

"Soon I will be graduating, and to be honest, and I really hope that I don't sound shallow when you read these words, but I am so _ready_ to move on from Glee Club, this dreary town, and _make_ something of myself.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my friends in Glee Club, but it's time I fly. Nobody is going to rain on my parade on my journey to New York and becoming a Broadway sensation.

"Get ready New York!

Here comes Rachel Berry!"

"_Oh she's so incredibly perfect. She's going to make it so far. She has it all planned out. I'm so so proud of her."_

"Quinnnnnn…." Brittany's hand was moving back and forth in front of her.

Quinn looked up with the same smile from before with a dazed look in her eyes, "Hmmm?"

"Did you hit your head when you fell earlier?"

The hazel-eyed girl just smiled impossibly wider and shook her head no and returned her eyes to her lap. The taller blonde just bit her lip nervously and gave Quinn a quick hug that she didn't seem to register.

What did seem to register, however, was Mr. Shue's, "Alright, Rachel, take the stage."

Quinn's head snapped up as Rachel hopped up on the stool in the middle of the room and the band began to play a familiar melody.

"Don't wanna be alone tonight

On this planet they call Earth

You don't know about my past and

I don't have a future figured out

And maybe this is goin' too fast

And maybe it's not meant to last"

Quinn's breath caught in her throat as Rachel began to sing. Admittedly, that happened every time Rachel sang, but this time was different. Because now Quinn had _hope._

"_Oh god, what if she's singing about Charlie?"_

"_Quinn, sweetheart, come on, she's sent you like two messages and looked at your blog. She has Finn. It's highly improbable that she's singing about Charlie."_

"_Ah! You said improbable, not impossible."_

"But what do you say to takin' chances?

What do you say to jumpin' off the edge?

Never knowin' if there's solid ground below

Or a hand to hold or hell to pay

What do you say? What do you say?

"_I say, hell freakin' yeah."_

"I just wanna start again

And maybe you could show me how to try

Maybe you could take me in

Somewhere underneath your skin

"_She could start over with me anytime. Maybe, even _ be_ over me."_

"What do you say to takin' chances?

What do you say to jumpin' off the edge?

Never knowin' if there's solid ground below

Or a hand to hold or hell to pay

What do you say? What do you say?"

"_Refer to my first answer."_

"Hey now, hey, my heart is beatin' down

But I'm always comin' back for more, yeah

There's nothin' like love to pull you up

When you're lyin' down on the floor, babe"

"_Do you mind if I put you on the floor again, but with me on top of you?"_

"So talk to me, talk to me like lovers do

Yeah, walk with me, walk with me like lovers do

Like lovers do

"What do you say to takin' chances?

What do you say to jumpin' off the edge?

Never knowin' if there's solid ground below

Or a hand to hold or hell to pay

What do you say? What do you say?"

"Don't know much about your life

And I don't know much about your world…"

"_You will, Rach, Charlie and I promise."_

The blonde cheered with the rest of the group and made sure to catch Rachel's eyes as she smiled at her.

It was time to go, but now that Quinn had a feeling of life pulsing through her she was determined to prove to Rachel that she was good enough. Hell, she didn't know if she believed she was or not, but if there was even the slightest chance that she could possibly make Rachel hers… there was no way she could pass that up.

When the rest of the group had left (not without Santana's "you're acting really weird today, Stretchmarks"), Quinn walked over to the two people who had stayed behind; Finn and Rachel.

The blonde rolled her eyes as Finn pathetically asked Rachel out to Breadstix for that night.

"_They have no vegan options, Finnept."_

"They have no vegan options, Finn. I don't know how many times I've told you." Rachel sighed as she looked up at her giant boyfriend.

"That's not true, Rach, they have a salad. You like salad!"

Quinn smirked at how blatantly Rachel sighed, "Finn…" but her smile instantly dropped when Rachel continued, "It would be… my pleasure… to accompany you tonight."

"Awesome." Finn gave his dopey smile and leaned down to kiss Rachel, whom promptly turned her head so he could only get her cheek. If Finnept noticed, he didn't seem to care because soon he was calling goodbye happily saying he'd pick her up at seven.

Scratching her head nervously Quinn approached Rachel, "hey, uhm, I don't know why you let him treat you like that. There's a better restaurant that's just a little further down the road that has options that would be more suited towards your lifestyle. You deserve better than just a salad for a meal."

Rachel sighed, but not meanly, more in a tired sense Quinn noted.

"That may be true, but he is my boyfriend. It's the least I could do I suppose - he likes Breadstix."

The blonde bit her lip and decided to brave it; she places a hand on Rachel's small, but strong, upper arm, effectively getting the shorter girl to meet her eyes.

"Listen, Rach, the least he could do is take you to a place that will actually fulfill your hunger. A relationship - it's supposed to be equal. I know that if I was your girlfriend, I'd definitely make sure that you were happily fed with more than just leafy greens, even if the restaurant was out of the way."

As Quinn began to realize what she said, "_girlfriend? God, way to be blunt," _she swallowed the frog in her throat and tried her best to keep a relaxed stance and face.

"W-well that's very nice of you, Quinn. It makes me happy to know that under that rough exterior you like to put up there's a caring girl that would go out of her way for people."

The blonde's heart hurt a little at the comment; she had deserved it though, she had been rough throughout their high school experience. A time and place would come to apologize for that though, but for now,

"Yeah, well, I just stayed behind because I wanted to say how much I liked your performance today. You really got into it; with your talent I'm surprised you're not on Broadway already."

Just like a few days before, before Rachel even had time for respond, Quinn was walking backwards out the door with a shy smile, "see you tomorrow, Rach," and one single thought,

"_she liked my blog!"_

**A/N: So hey guys! Thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked how that played out :x I'm sort of nervous about it. The usernames mentioned above are real tumblr url's so check them out, (Rachel's may even be real… hm…). Thank you for reading/reviewing; until next time!**


	5. Timber!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Special thanks to my beta reader Secretaryofsnix! The chapter wouldn't have been as beautiful or lovely without her help.**

Rachel sighed and pressed her temple against the cool window of Finn's beat-up 1994 Ford F150. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute, she didn't even hear Finn's rambling about how he finally beat Puck on Halo and the stupid dare he put him up to.

She just could not stop thinking about what Quinn had said to her; _"You deserve better."_ Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew Quinn was right. She knew that she shouldn't starve just because Finn (conveniently) happened to like the (cheapest) restaurant in Lima, Ohio. She also knew that she shouldn't have to have every single dinner date at Breadstix and every other one at the bowling alley. She didn't even like _either_ of those things!

"_You deserve better; you deserve better; you deserve better."_

The sound of Quinn's melodic voice echoed through her head, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get the voice to stop.

"_I know that if I was your girlfriend, I'd definitely make sure that you were happily fed with more than just leafy greens, even if the restaurant was out of the way."_

"Right, Rach?"

"What?" She pulled out of her thoughts momentarily at the call of her name, when she realized she had been asked a question.

"I said, 'we're the hottest couple at school, right?'" Finn had his dopey smile on once more, and though Rachel once thought it was cute, now she just found it annoying and out of place.

She shook the thought from her head, surprised at even thinking such a thing about Finn. She gave him her best show smile and nodded, "Of course we are, Finn, just look at us."

The truck lurched into the small parking lot and found a parking place - not without almost hitting two bystanders and a stationary vehicle.

Soon, the couple was in a booth making incredibly _small, _small talk. Mostly because Rachel's mind was still too filled with thoughts of Quinn's words, and not only Quinn's words, but Charlie's words too. Before she left with Finn she had checked the Head Queerio's blog and read the answer to the last message she had left the mysterious blogger.

"**Anonymous Asked: **_Hey, Charlie, this is the same anon as earlier. I hope it's not weird but I feel like I can really relate to what you're going through. Your argument with 'the one' seems strangely like a conversation I had with a friend of mine the other day, and though I doubt she was thinking the same things you are about love and everything towards me, what you posted helped me understand her from a different perspective. I hope that the one realizes that she has you, because you sound like an absolutely_

_amazing person. Don't give up hope. You never know what could happen. I say you prove to her what an awesome woman you are make her see what she's missing out on. Don't say it's over, unless she tells you right out that it will never happen."_

"**Charlie: **I… thank you so much for this message. I can see where you're coming from and it means a lot to me that someone out there cares. It's just.. I gave up a long time ago. There couldn't be any way that the one would like me. I mean… what possible chance could there be? I'm not worth her chances, I just want to make her smile as much as I can before she goes to live her life."

Rachel's thoughts kept clouding over one another. She couldn't seem to decide which one was more important at the moment.

"_You deserve better."_

"_I know, I do."_

"_What possible chance could there be?"_

"_Isn't there always a chance?"_

The brunette was catapulted from her thoughts as a salad was placed in front of her, _"I didn't order this, did I?"_

"I didn't order this," she said politely to the waiter.

"Actually, Rach, I ordered it for you."

Rachel almost slapped the proud look of Finn's face.

"You were really zoned out, so I ordered you a salad. Dig in!"

"Finn. This is a Caesar salad."

"Yeah… so? It's a salad, you like salad."

"This has eggs in it."

"So…?"

"I'm vegan, Finn, have you forgotten?"

"Eggs aren't vegan?"

Rachel scoffed and crossed her arms unbelieving. She knew Finn could be slow sometimes, but _this?_ This was uncanny. She couldn't remember how many times she had told him she couldn't eat eggs, actually, she could; she had told Finn exactly eight times before that she could not eat dairy products of any sort, eggs included.

"_He must really never listen to me."_

"No, _Finn,_ eggs are not vegan."

"Woah, wait, what's with the attitude; so I made a mistake, let's just get you another salad."

As the waiter kindly excused himself from the growing argument, Rachel glowered at Finn.

"I don't want another salad."

"You said you can't eat that one."

"God, Finn! Don't you get it? I don't want _any_ salad! I want vegan eggplant lasagna, or sundried tomato basil pesto pasta, or spicy BBQ chickpea burgers! I want something _real_, not some soggy, limp rabbit food!"

Finn shifted nervously in his chair, eyeing the people who were stealing glances at their table, "Rach, can you lower your voice please you're making a scene; I'm not sure if they have that stuff you said here, but maybe there's something like it on the menu."

"No, I will not _depreciate_ my _volume_ Finn! How can you be so _daft,_ so_ obtuse. _I _deserve_better than this. I deserve dates outside of Breadstix - that has absolutely nothing for me to eat - and outside of the brainless, ludicrous, _puerile _Lima Bowling Alley!

"Woah, woah, I didn't understand, like, six, of those words."

Rachel rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse and made a beeline towards the exit. She wasn't going to put up with this anymore. She was so done.

"Rachel! Rachel, wait! RACHEL!"

Finn grabbed Rachel by the upper arm and turned her around forcefully - not enough to hurt her, and she doubted he meant to do it in the manner he did but it didn't stop her from basically spitting in his face and yelling, "get your DAMN hands OFF of me, Hudson!"

Stuffing his large hands in his small pockets Finn eyed Rachel anxiously, as if he expected her to sprout vicious fangs and nails and claw him to shreds.

"Can we, like, talk about this please?" Finn teetered from side to side like a thick tree blowing in the wind. His eyes held confusion, sadness, and just a hint of anger as he continued to look down at the small woman in front of him.

"Okay, yes, we can _contend," _Rachel internally mocked Finn since he most likely didn't know that contend meant 'argue' instead of just 'talk' "what do you want me to say?"

"What happened in there? You haven't been listening to me all night, zoning in and out, it's kind of freaky to be honest, and then you just explode on me. I haven't done nothing!"

"That's exactly right, Finn, good job! You haven't done _anything. _Anything,Finn, _anything_ is the correct term. By doing nothing you have effectively made me volatile! You take me to the same places over and over and over, and expect me to swoon just because I happen to be walking next to you. Let me just tell you, it gets monotonous doing the same thing every weekend. The fact that you ordered me a Cesar salad, Finn, is on a whole other level, too! It has _eggs_ and _cheese._ Both being diary products that are made by poor cows that are holed in small decrepit living areas with a dreadful food supply!"

Rachel was absolutely fuming. She wasn't going to dumb down her vocabulary anymore, she wasn't going to put up with soggy salads, or smelly bowling alleys (not to mention the shoes!), and she definitely was not going to put up with Finn Hudson and his boorish ways anymore!

"Hey! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know."

"Didn't know?" Rachel scoffed and threw her hands up, "Didn't know. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't know. That makes it all better, let's just go spend the rest of our night making out in the bed of your truck; my apologizes for "flipping the lid."

"Rach-"

The boy never had a chance…

"No, Finn! I'm done! I don't care if you "didn't know" you should have because I'm your girlfriend! You should know that I can't eat eggs because I've told you eight times before. You should know I don't like Breadstix because there is nothing on the menu suitable for me. You should know there is a perfectly good vegan-friendly restaurant down the road because even _Quinn_ knew about it. You should know I'm tired of the same old dates every weekend because as my boyfriend you're supposed to pick up on those kinds of things! I stuck around thinking that this is the best that I was going to get, and then Quinn kindly reminded me that _I deserve better._ I don't deserve this, Finn! I don't deserve not being able to eat out where you take me - I actually eat dinner before I go out on dinner dates with you because I know otherwise I will be starving when I get home! I'm sick and tired of this, Finn, and I'm done. I'm done, okay? With everything. We're through."

Finn stood to his full height and roared, "Through?!"

The petite brunette stood her ground, "Yes, Finn, through."

"That's bullshit, Rachel! I haven't done nothing!"

"Anything, Finn! It's 'I haven't done anything'!"

"Who _cares_, Rachel!? I haven't done _anything_! Did Quinn have something to do with this?!"

Rachel scoffed, while yes, Quinn did make her realize that she was worth more than all the shit that was Finn, it was ultimately Finn himself that made Rachel want to leave his sorry ass.

"While Quinn did make me realize that I am worth more than what you put me though, she was not what made me break up with you. She didn't even mention the notion to me. I have already thoroughly explained to you most of the reason why I have made this decision."

The boy bellowed, "Bullshit!" and stormed off, leaving Rachel alone in the Breadstix parking lot with nothing but her purse, cell phone, and a few surprising tears falling down her cheeks.

Her hands fumbled with her phone as she quickly dialed the first number that came to mind - she had all of her contacts numbers memorized just in case of an emergency like this one.

Rachel heard soft music in the background as the call was answered, "Hello?"

"Quinn?"

Quinn's soft, caring voice rose an octave in slightly panicked concern, "Rachel? Is that you? Are you crying?"

"Maybe a little, I haven't the slightest idea why, though. I feel pretty good, actually. Lighter than I have in a long time. Maybe that's because I don't have a big two hundred and thirty pound boy dangling on my arm anymore, but I don't know."

"Wait, did you just say what I think you said?"

Rachel smiled an extremely small, sad smile, "Yes, it's official. I broke up with Finn, and you're the first person I've told."

"Well, I'm honored, but - I mean, are you okay?"

"Currently I'm stranded alone in the Breadstix parking lot, crying, with about fifteen people staring out the windows watching me… so no I'm not really okay on that whole front, but in regards to the Finn side I'm doing pretty well, I think."

"...Finn left you, _alone,_ at _night_ in a _parking lot?"_

Rachel looked around her dark surroundings and nodded even though she knew Quinn couldn't see, "While there are people and lights around me, it would seem like what you said is the case."

A softly muttered _"I'm going to kill him"_ was uttered before Quinn told the brunette, "Go inside the restaurant lobby so you'll be safe. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Immediately Rachel started back towards the building, suddenly acutely aware that the street lights were flickering on and off eerily and creepy howls were coming from the woods that weren't too far away. She gave Quinn a soft, "Thank you."

The blonde took a deep breath and allowed Rachel to hear the soft smile in her voice as she said, "Of course, Rachel, anytime."

* * *

With new makeup applied and a newly found lease on life, Rachel stood from the bench with a small, but strong, smile on her face as she saw a casual, shaggy haired - but stunning as always - Quinn enter through the double doors.

In her only twelve minute wait for Quinn, Rachel had done a lot of thinking; perhaps more thinking than she had done on the drive to Breadstix with Finn just about two hours ago.

She thought about Charlie, and how she really desperately wanted to talk to the girl. She thought about the mystery that surrounded the girl since there were no pictures on the blog of her, only tags and posts of her life, and reblogs with small tags that voiced her realest thoughts. She thought about how the poor girl wanted to connect with the love of her life, but didn't seem to think she had a chance anymore. She thought about how she wished she could help the girl realize that there's always a chance, even if she couldn't see it because life was full of surprises and opportunities and you'd never find those things if you didn't go after them.

She thought about how nice Quinn seemed to be towards her lately, negating the argument they had about a week ago. The girl thought that Quinn seemed to be finding 'her inner-self' and was becoming more intune with a deeper side. The blonde had seemed lighter than she had in years, and it made Rachel happy to know that things were looking up for Quinn.

But, then she switched over and thought of how beautiful Quinn was. She thought of how caring she was becoming, and though Quinn had put up a rough front through most of high school, Rachel was beginning to see that Quinn usually put a lot of her walls down around her. The blonde always let her vulnerable side show with Rachel, and really, Rachel loved that. She wanted to help Quinn, she wanted to be there for the girl. There always seemed to be a deep connection between the two; something always drawing them near each other. It didn't matter if it was in anger, compassion, friendship, or something else. It was always there, and it never stopped tugging. At least, that's what Rachel thought with her sixth sense and all.

The two met halfway across the lobby and pulled each other into a light hug, Quinn whispering to her above Rachel's ear because of the height advantage, "hey, are you okay?"

After the friendly hug ran it's course, they both stepped back and gave each other friendly smiles.

"Yeah, I'm doing good actually. It's been about twenty minutes since the break up, and honestly, I was surprised I even cried. I haven't felt this good in ages."

Quinn laughed and nudged her head towards the door, "Alright then, Ms. Newly-Single Rachel Berry, let's get you home. We can sing fun pop songs as loud as you want on the way there."

Rachel's body stilled and her head tilted to the side. "How did you know I like to do that?" she asked with a large smile.

"I _do_ listen to you, you know," Quinn chuckled and grabbed Rachel's hand to drag her out the door, "Come onnnn, slowpoke!"

"_She listens to me?"_

"Okay, okay, so if you listen to me," Rachel started playfully, forgetting all about Finn and the breakup (like she already hadn't), "what's my favorite color?"

"You like people to think it's bubblegum pink because you think they will think that your real favorite color is weird. It's dark grey because it can be used for a sad color or a happy color, 'despite others beliefs'."

Quinn smiled and unlocked Rachel's door, opening it for the smaller girl, and while Rachel said, "thank you" all she wanted to do was scream, _"She LISTENS to me!"_

"You're right, how did you know that?" Rachel asked when Quinn got in on the drivers side, and noticed that Quinn seemed to become a bit tentative to answer, but as quick as she saw it, it was gone.

Quinn smiled confidently, "You told the Glee club when we were on our way to sectionals, Freshman year. Everyone was yelling over you, and you thought no one heard you, but I did."

Rachel felt shocked that Quinn remembered that. Not only was it a few years ago, but everyone had been screaming in a small confined space. It was insanely hard to hear over all of that, but somehow Quinn had heard that little piece of information. Rachel found it strange that her heart fluttered.

"Okay, okay, smarty-pants," Rachel smiled, "What is my… favorite song we have ever sang in Glee?"

"That's easy, 'Keep Holding On,' because that's when you felt Glee was finally coming together."

Rachel squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly, "I can't believe you actually knew that! I bet I have something about that song that you don't know though."

Rachel smiled over at Quinn playfully, and Quinn glanced over at her with a twinkle in her eye that Rachel had never seen before.

"Alright, hit me."

"It's also my favorite song because we were all singing it to you. You were so scared, Quinn, and I loved that I- _we_ were all able to come together and be there for you."

"I- That…" Quinn had a small smile in her face and a couple unshed tears in her eyes as she parked in front of Rachel's house and turned towards the other girl.

"Rachel that means so much to me, you don't understand. Here's a secret for you okay," Quinn nudged Rachel's knee and met her eyes with a smile, "'Keep Holding On' is my favorite performance too, for all the same reasons as yours. When you all did that, I- Rach I didn't know what to do. It gave me the light in my heart that I needed."

Clasping Quinn's hand in her own, Rachel leaned over and whispered, "Wanna know a secret?"

This time Rachel did notice as Quinn's breath hitched and let out a strangled whisper, "Y-yes."

Not wanting to disconcert Quinn, she gave the blonde her huge, glowing smile, and whispered, "I'd do it again if I had to."

Then, a tear dropped from Quinn's shining, beautiful eyes. Rachel just smiled softly and brushed it away with the pad of her thumb, "I would. Thank you, Quinn for picking me up and giving me a ride. I owe you one."

The taller girl just smiled, wiped her eyes, and chuckled, "No, no, don't mention it. What're friends for, right?"

As the brunette exited the car she turned and smiled in at Quinn, "Friends?"

The blonde nodded and matched the smile back, "Friends, definitely. Bye, Rach."

"Bye, Friend!"

Rachel heard Quinn's melodic laugh as she shut the door. She couldn't be happier. The world seemed right, now. There was no lumbering boy asking to make out with her with his overly sloppy lips (it felt great, as if she was finally yelling 'timber!' to the teetering, overly-touchy tree in her life), Quinn Fabray knew things Finn didn't know about her, and she was about to go enjoy another round of looking at Charlie Q's blog.

Life was pretty great, and as Rachel walked through the threshold of her two story house with her father's laughing in the kitchen, all Rachel could think was,

"_She listens to me!"_

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! If you're able please leave a review, it'd be so awesome to read your thoughts. I know you guys want to see Rachel and Charlie talk back and forth, and I promise, that will be what the next chapter is about. Hope you liked this chapter. Until next time!**


	6. 97 Percent Sure It's the Dust and Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbeated. All mistakes are mine. Enjoy!**

* * *

Quinn was floating on cloud nine as she entered her house, skipping and humming _Walking on Sunshine._ Noticing a note next to the bowl she used to store her keys, she picked it up and read that her mother was going out for the night and that Quinn shouldn't wait up. The blonde couldn't be bothered with thinking of what her mother was out doing; she decided it would be much more fun to continue on in her Rachel-induced happy haze. Turning away from the table, she threw her arms in the air and her head back, and busted out, "I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINEEE, WOAHH OH, IM WALKING ON SUNSHINE AND DON'T IT FEEL GOOD! HEY! ALRIGHT NOW!"

Jigging and jiving her way up the staircase, Quinn opened her bedroom door with passion as if she were stopping the love of her life from getting married, and strutted towards her old stuffed animals.

"I used to think maybe you loved me, now, baby, I'm sureeee." She picked up her favorite toy lion (Mr. Rawrington), and spun in circles around her room.

"And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door!" She danced around with Mr. Rawrington, stroking his mane and holding him up as if he were baby Simba in the Lion King.

"Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down; 'Cause I just can't wait till you write me you're coming around!"

She smiled and flopped down with Mr. Rawrington on her bed with a large sigh.

"_Life f-in rocks."_

She grabbed her laptop from her nightstand singing softly under her breath, "I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real; I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real."

Finally, her computer hummed to life and she quickly managed to find the song that was stuck in her head on Spotify. She didn't hesitate at all to turn it up to full blast. She felt fantastic, which was increasingly rare, and she wasn't about to let such a thing go to waste.

Quickly after, her Google Chrome browser was up along with Tumblr dashboard. Her fingers on the trackpad found the new text post button easily, and they danced along the keys as she typed up her happy feelings. She wrote about how life was looking up, and how she was finally seeing a chance with the one. She realized that she needed to fight for the one and she was going to do it.

Tonight with Rachel, Quinn had realized (along with her realization from earlier in the afternoon, as well) that she did indeed still have a chance with her one and only.

1) Rachel followed her blog, and if she was in fact the anon that liked her blog and told her she had to keep trying then that meant Rachel wanted her too. The more Quinn thought about it the more she believed the anon was Rachel, from the wording and how the anon had said she had, had a similar argument with a friend.

2) Rachel broke up with Finnept. The stunning brunette was now available and Quinn had to at least attempt to snatch her up before anyone else did. No one else would make sure the singer was as well-taken care of as she should be.

3) Rachel had leaned in _so close_ tonight, and was playful with her. _Playful!_

Quinn was giddy with happiness. Rachel was free, Rachel wasn't even upset about her breakup with the oaf it seemed, and she had wiped Quinn's tears.

Quinn rolled her eyes at herself, "_I was the one crying, and Rachel was the one who had just broken up with someone. Way to be shallow."_

"_Oh stop, it was an emotional thing and she was totally cool with it."_

Literally waving her hand in the air, as if to wave away her thoughts, Quinn smiled as a red box with a '1' in it popped up above her inbox. It was time to become Charlie (though Quinn thought they were pretty much one-in-the-same right now).

Charlie clicked the notification excitedly and read the message with earnest.

"**Anonymous asked: **Hi Charlie! The same anon as from earlier here again! I just wanted to let you know that I am really excited that you realized that you have to keep going after the one. If she really is the one and only, I'm sure that she will definitely be worth fighting for! PS. I adore your star quote you posted."

Charlie practically flailed and squealed, _"It _has_ to be Rachel! Stars are her thing!"_

Before Rachel had called her, Charlie had been playing around on her drawing tablet and art program. One of the options in her program was a pattern sticker of gold star. Once she discovered the tool her heart hammered in her chest as she decided to risk it and make something for Rachel. Admittedly, the resulting art wasn't her best work; it was just a simple text of _"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you"_ and a shit-ton of stars surrounding it. Yet, she knew Rachel would love it.

"**Charlie: **Ah! Thank you for liking it! You should come off anon so I can thank you personally for liking the art, and for helping me realize that I need to get a backbone and go after the one :)"

There. She swallowed her anxiety and had put it out there. Now she would finally know if the anon was Rachel.

She waited with bated breath, trying to distract herself by scrolling her dashboard and singing to a few more happy songs. However, it was obvious it wasn't quite working since she scrolled to the top of the site to check her inbox notifications almost constantly.

She jumped as the '1' notification finally popped up after what felt like forever, though it had really only been about three minutes.

"**Anonymous asked: **Oh, I'd love for you to acknowledge my contributions, but I'm a bit nervous about revealing my name. I have a really big crush on your blog, so I'm rather nervous."

Charlie and Quinn, if separate people, would have joined hands and sung to the high heavens if it were possible. Instead, Charlie settled for keysmashing.

"**Charlie: **ALSdjf;akjsd;hfkang;sidhf a crush?! Awwwwww :3 Now I _really_ want to know who you are! Well, if I can't know who you are, can I know why you like my blog?"

This time, Charlie grabbed Mr. Rawrington and rocked with excitement as she waited for the next '1'.

"_It has to be Rachel. Rachel with a crush. A crush on my blog. Subsequently a crush on me."_

"_A crush on Charlie, not you."_

"_It could be a crush on me."_

"_Nothing on your blog indicates that you're Quinn Fabray, and not Charlie Q._

"_Maybe… she looked over my shoulder while I was on my phone one day."_

"_Without you noticing? Yeah right."_

"_Shhhh, shut up, I got a message!"_

"**Anonymous asked: **You most definitely can know ^-^ I like your blog for your honesty in the tags and the beautiful posts, but mostly I like your personal writing posts. This will probably sound incredibly weird, but I feel like I can relate to them. You're just interesting, intriguing. You're definitely my favorite blog."

"_Oh. My. God. I'm going to_ die."

"_Reel it in, girl, you're okay."_

"_DYING."_

"**Charlie: **Oh, Sweetheart! You are just ;aklsdjfa, too sweet! Are you sure I can't know who you are? Don't hide!"

She posted the question, excited at the prospect of being one step closer to knowing if it was really Rachel or not. She was almost 97% sure it was Rachel Berry under the anonymous guise, but actually _knowing_ it was her was going to be the most breathtaking thing Charlie could imagine. It would feel as if a bomb of flowers, magic, and glitter was exploding in her heart and soul.

Her imagination took over as she waited for her anonymous sweetheart to reply.

"_Oh, god, imagine us singing to each other in Glee with our lovesick puppy eyes."_

"_We already did that with I Feel Pretty/Unpretty!"_

"_She looked so beautiful, I don't know why I ever encouraged her to get a nose job. She's so striking the way she is."_

"_But just imagine, her voice singing to you and only you."_

"_I think I'd die then and there. I'd be so happy I could melt."_

"_Did you just make a Wicked reference?"_

"_Yes, do you think Rachel will like that?"_

"_Wicked references?"_

"_Yeah, try to keep up."_

"_I do think she'd appreciate your knowledge of the theater world."_

"_I've been working on it. Oh! Think of it! Rachel and I at a carnival together. I wonder if she's scared of heights, I want to kiss her at the top of the ferris wheel."_

"_Quinn, _you're_ scared of heights. How would you manage that?"_

"_I'd just focus on her lips; nbd."_

"_Did you really just say 'nbd' instead of actually saying 'no big deal'?"_

"_Possibly."_

"_You _really_ need to stop being online so much."_

"_Not if it's my only connection with Rachel, I won't."_

"_Still don't know if it's her~"_

"_Message message message shhh."_

"**Anonymous asked: **Hmm…. your words and my crush for you are two quite compelling arguments for me to reveal my identity. I promise I'm not some creepy 40 year old man haha! Wait.. saying that doesn't make you suspicious that I am, does it? Darn it! I might have to tell you who I am now, just so you don't think I'm some weirdo!"

Charlie laughed at the message, but her heart hammered louder than it had since earlier that night when Rachel leaned in close enough so that Quinn could smell the brunette's cherry lip balm and vanilla perfume.

"_My crush for you."_

"**Charlie: **Sir, I can assure you that I want nothing to do with you. You being a forty year old man with a crush on a poor eighteen year old girl is incredibly disconcerting. I will continue to believe you are a forty year old man until you can sufficiently convince me otherwise."

Charlie knew full well that the person behind the mask was not a forty year old pervert; well, at least, she was 97% positive that it wasn't.

She clicked post and tried to veer her imagination from creepy porn-stached men to Rachel and her at prom. She imagined them both getting crowned Queen, and having their first dance together in the middle of the dance floor. She imagined the other attendants around them in a circle watching them before they began to join. She imagined pulling Rachel against her tighter when they were concealed by dozens of other couples, and away from the prying eyes of real creepy porn-stached teachers.

She imagined feeling Rachel smile against her neck, and placing her lips against Rachel's temple. She imagined swaying into the night with the girl she loved, and later sweeping her off her feet and watching the stars with her in their gowns. She imagined looking over at Rachel under the moonlight and tracing the lines of the girls face that she already knew so well. She imagined Rachel turned to her with a goofy smile on her face and asking, "What?" And answering, "Rachel you are the brightest star I see tonight. When I look at you tomorrow, next week, next year, and years into the future, you will still be the brightest of them all. Infinitely burning, infinitely shining. You are made of dust and light and mass and fire and explosions, and you are important and you matter. You are made of life and you make things spin and evolve and grow and _be._ You have made me change and learn and open up. I have expanded and shifted and moved because of you, and every time I look at you, you are doing the same. You are a gift. There will never, ever be another soul like you." And then and there, they would share a supernova of a kiss, a massive bunch of atoms and neurons and synapses exploding like a thousand cannons and the banging of a million drums; rocking the shift of the Earth with every graze of their lips, and every stroke of their tongues.

And as she clicked the inbox notification and read the message

"**Anonymous asked: **I'm not a sir! Haha, no no! My name is Rachel, but I'm still nervous to give you my url; I don't feel worthy in the eyes of such a glorious blog!"

Quinn felt that the Earth was finally tilted on it's axis to the correct degree, and that maybe, just maybe, all of her daydreams would come true.

* * *

**A/N: This wasn't exactly what I expected to come of this chapter, but I thought I should leave it off here because it just seemed to fit. Next chapter I plan to add more talking just between the two - Charlie and Anon or Charlie and Rach - in a more instant messaging type style. I hope you liked this chapter even though it was a bit short. Please review if you're able! Thank you so much for reading!**


	7. Charlie and Rachel Have Entered the Room

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbeated, all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!**

_Rachel entered the room._

_Charlie entered the room._

Rachel:Hey! It's working!

Charlie: I see that, haha! I'm glad we finally got it to work, it was really starting to be a pain in the neck.

Rachel: I concur. It kept trying to kick me off. I may or may not of been muttering to it how rude it was being.

Charlie: Lol, right right, well don't worry; I won't tell anyone of your mutterings.

Rachel: That'd be appreciated haha

Rachel: By the way, I've never really chatted with a person online before. How does this work?

Charlie: You really don't know?

Rachel: Well…. I assume we just… chat…

Charlie: You're right, haha. Don't worry, it'll be interesting! Let's see… what's a good conversation starter?

Rachel: Usually I'm quite verbose, but my words seem to be failing me right now. I'm a bit nervous, seeing as you now know I have a crush on your blog.

Charlie: And me!

Rachel: Charlie!

Rachel: I'm blushing! You're going to make me resort to that keysmashing thing you do!

Charlie: Aw, that's actually really cute haha. Okay, okay, I'll think of a conversation starter then.

Rachel: Alright!

Charlie: Hm…

Charlie: Did you know that there are over a septillion stars in the universe?

Rachel: A septillion? What number is a septillion?

Charlie: I believe a septillion is 100 billion times 1 trillion. 100 billion stars in a galaxy, multiplied by all the galaxies in the universe.

Rachel: Imagine how many zeros that would be!

Charlie: Hold up, I'mma Google it.

_Charlie is typing…._

_Charlie is typing…._

Charlie: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Charlie: I was obsessively making sure I had counted the correct amount of zeroes

Rachel: That's a whole lot of zeroes! And that's alright, I do that too haha.

Charlie: The concept of zero behind a one baffles me.

Rachel: Why's that?

_Charlie is typing…_

_Charlie is typing..._

Charlie: Zero is a hole, correct? Or it looks like one, I mean. It represents the concept of nothingness. Zero means that it holds nothing, there is nothing there. But when you add that zero onto a one or another number it transforms it into something greater. A whole bunch of nothingness is what is needed to make something grow and become bigger. It's a beautiful, intricate and astounding idea. It's as if you're adding these rabbit holes that all connect to make a greater passageway. The more holes you add the farther you go.

Rachel: That's why I like you, if I may be so bold haha

Charlie: What do you mean? (By the way, I'M blushing now!)

Rachel: What you said was amazing. I never would have thought of it like that. To me it's just a number, but maybe that's why math is my least favorite subject. I don't grasp concepts like that, but you do and it's awfully impressive. The way you think is just wondrous to me.

Charlie: Goodness me, now I REALLY am blushing!

Rachel: Well, it's true, haha :)

Charlie: So, besides me *wink wink* haha, do you have your eye on anyone else?

Rachel: Actually, I very recently broke up with my boyfriend. As in, last night recently. I haven't really had time to check out the other potential suitors.

Charlie: Oh, I'm so sorry; I really hope I didn't upset you!

Rachel: Not at all! I'm not very upset about it. He didn't treat me properly. I'm a vegan, and though I told him countless times I cannot eat certain foods he orders them for me. He even fed me meat one time.

Charlie: ...he fed you meat? Don't vegans get really sick from meat after they haven't had it for a long time?

_Rachel is typing… _

Rachel: Yes! I was incredibly sick afterwards. Here's the best part - I didn't know why. He lied to me about it. I've been thinking a lot about it and I'm astounded at how stupid I've been. He bought me a star and named it after _himself_, and countless times he insulted, belittled, and talked down to me.

Charlie: What made you come to your senses?

Rachel: My friend Quinn was kind enough to remind me that I deserve better.

Charlie: From what I've heard, she's absolutely right.

Charlie: Quinn is an interesting name, btw. I think I like it because it actually starts with a Q haha

Rachel: Like Charlie Q :)? Have you not met many people with a Q name?

Charlie: Exactly! And I know at least one person haha

Rachel: What's their name?

Charlie: Mmmm….. It starts with a Qu that's for sure…

Rachel: Well it has to, Silly! Haha!

Charlie: I don't remember their name lol, why don't you tell me more about this Quinn girl. Are you two close?

Rachel: Not particularly, but we have been growing closer as of late. She is the one who picked me up last night after my now ex-boyfriend so kindly left me stranded in a parking lot.

Charlie: He did what!

Rachel: Yes! He left me at night in a parking lot alone!

Charlie: If I knew him I'd smack him right up side the head.

Rachel: I actually think Quinn did that today at school.

Charlie: With a few kicks the the shin?

Rachel: How'd you know?

Charlie: Wild guess haha; it's what I would've done.

Rachel: I appreciate that. Though I would never personally resort to violence against Finn (that's his name), I do have to admit that I wasn't appalled at the idea of kicking him where the sun don't shine.

Rachel: What about you, though? Tell me more about the one?

Charlie: She's my solid, my calmness in my hectic life, but the explosion at the same time - if that makes sense.

Rachel: I think that makes sense. What is it about her that makes her the one for you?

_Charlie is typing… _

Charlie: Everything. I know that sounds totally cliche, but everything about her is invigorating. The way she speaks, the way she writes, sings, laughs. The way she walks and the way her eyes sparkle. I love when her smile grows from a small one to a beaming spotlight smile. I adore the way she claps her hands and hops from side to side when she gets really excited. I like how we gravitate towards each other, even when we are supposed to repel.

Rachel: With the way you talk about her, and all the things you reblog about her, she seems like a really amazing girl!

Charlie: The most stunning girl I've ever seen. Majestic, riveting, astounding, captivating, enticing, engaging, alluring, refreshing. No other I've met has ever compared to her. For a long time I denied my feelings for her, but I knew that in the long run my efforts would be futile. I fell for her a long, long time ago.

Rachel: Though I may have a crush on you, haha, I am really happy that you realized that there is always a chance. She sounds extremely important to you, and I'm sure that if you let her know how you feel that she will see just how amazing of a couple you can be together.

Charlie: I'm getting to know her more, though I must admit I do know quite a bit already (I hope that doesn't sound weird lol), and I'm trying to throw in compliments whenever I can.

Charlie: And aw, don't worry I have a lil crush on you too ;3

Rachel: a;sdlkjfab;usrohafDSIfhaudv;efddf

Charlie: Ahahah aw you're too adorable!

Rachel: ASDfnasdkfj;a! You made me resort to the keysmashing! Made me!

Charlie: It's cute, haha, don't worry. So what are you up to besides talking to me?

Rachel: Currently I am preparing for my weekly Myspace video. I record a cover of a song each week to showcase my singing talent.

Charlie: I bet you're really good; I'll have to watch some soon

Rachel: If I'm still too nervous to give you my url (you may see me fangirling over you!), how would I be able to give you a link to videos of myself?!

Charlie: Rachel, dear, I already have your url; you just don't/didn't know that I do/did.

Rachel: You WHAT?!

Rachel: How?!

Rachel: You could see me fangirling and keysmashing more!

Charlie: Darling, you weren't too hard to find in my followers list. I just merely clicked each one until I found the "Hello, I'm Rachel!" in the sidebar haha

Charlie: I hope you're not too mad..

Rachel: No, no, not really haha. It was bound to happen eventually lol

Charlie: Just so you know, I really enjoy your blog too.

_Rachel is typing… _

Rachel: I am practically flailing over here! It's such an honor to even be holding a conversation with you. Is that weird? I found your blog, I fell in love with it, adored your writing, and photos. You're just kind of like a celebrity to me. I feel like I'm talking to someone I've always looked up to, even though I've only been following your blog for about a week.

Charlie: Aw, goodness! I can assure you, I'm merely just another person on the other side of the screen. No fancy lights or storyboards here. Just me being me :)

Rachel: I just admire your honesty on your blog. From the moment I read your first post, I was hooked.

Charlie: The blog was originally created as a place for me to really let go. A place where I could be myself without fear, without hiding. Everything in my real life seems like a big front. I needed a place I could just really be myself. I'm trying to bring that into the real world too, though.

_Rachel is typing… _

Rachel: I think that is an incredibly honorable thing of you - making yourself a place to breathe and survive. Sometimes life is overwhelming, and sometimes it gets the best of you; but you made yourself a place instead of continuing to hide, instead of continuing to be held back. You did that for yourself and I think that is awesome of you.

Charlie: Awww gracious, thank you! It's really inspiring to read those words.

Charlie: I'm afraid I'm going to have to go, though! D: I couple friends of mine have just blasted their car horn from outside, announcing their arrival.

Rachel: Okay, well I've had a marvelous time talking to you! Hopefully we can do it again sometime :)

Charlie: I've had a great time talking to you, too, Rachel! Have fun with your Myspace video (you still have to know me some time c;) Until next time, bye, have a great night!

Rachel: You too!

_Charlie has left the room… _

_Rachel has left the room…_

* * *

**A/N: First off, I want to thank each and every single person who has read this. I also want to thank profusely the ones who have left reviews. It is so amazing to read your thoughts. It's inspiring and motivating. I apologize for this being a short chapter, and it isn't really my favorite, but I hope you enjoyed it none-the-less. Again, thank you for reading!**


	8. Ducks, Pizza, and Love, Oh My!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: The reviews you have left me are absolutely phenomenal. I read every single one of them, and I apologize that I can't reply to them all. I just want to let you all know that the reviews are so heartwarming and sweet, and they give me the motivation I need everyday to look forward to continuing this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I like the ending better than the beginning. Enjoy, loves! Currently unbeated, all mistakes are mine.**

"You have _got_ to be kidding, Q."

Santana was leaning against the passenger door of her black 2008 Honda Civic giving Quinn an incredulous stare.

"What?" Quinn replied to Santana as she made her way down her sidewalk to Santana and Brittany.

"What? _What?_ Quinn, look at you!"

Said blonde looked down and took in her attire. She was wearing ash gray chukka ankle boots, black skinny jeans, an oversized sweatshirt with mickey mouse on it, a light blue infinity scarf ("_for a pop of color"_), and lastly a grayish-white knit beanie. She thought she looked pretty cute.

"What's wrong? I look cute."

Santana scoffed, "Okay, Q, I'm only saying this because even though I call you names and shit I do actually give a damn, and I have to be honest with you; you look like one of those girls addicted to Starbucks, blogging, and photography. I total hipster. Q, it's like the end of April and it's like you're dressed for November."

"_I do like those things… what's wrong with that…?"_

"San, be nice. I think she looks hot." Brittany happily bounded over to Quinn and threw her arms around her neck.

"_Hell yeah, I look hot. I bet Rachel would like it."_

"Q, you look great. Don't listen to San, she's just mad because she remembered we had agreed to go to the mall right when we were about to have sexy time."

Quinn blushed as Brittany's honesty and smiled at the girl, "Oh, I'm sorry for impeding on that. I'm sure San would much rather be seeing you naked right now than me and my chukka boots."

"No, she doesn't mind, do you San?"

The brunette just muttered and turned to walk around to the drivers side, "We better get there before they close. At this rate we'll get there a nine tomorrow."

Brittany winked at Quinn, causing her to chuckle as they both climbed into the starting car.

* * *

The three girls laughed and smiled their way into the mall's food court once they had arrived. It had seemed like forever since the Unholy Trinity had actually hung out together, and they were enjoying every second they had.

Though Quinn wasn't on the Cheerios anymore and didn't have to constrain herself to the absurd diet, she decided to not torture her long time friends by eating the pizza she so desperately craved.

"_Oh God, think of the _cheese._"_

"_The cheese? Think of the delicious carb-filled bread!"_

"_No, no, I think we're missing the most important thing about pizza right now."_

"_What would that be?"_

"_BACON."_

"_Oh _God,_ bacon…"_

The trio walked over to a vegetarian food stand and ordered small meals for themselves; Santana and Brittany ordering veggie shakes and Quinn ordering side salad and tiny thing of hummus and pita chips.

"_We need to get that pizza."_

"_I can't make them suffer, though."_

"_Bacon, Quinn, bacon…"_

"Q, why were you acting so weird a couple days ago in Glee?"

The blonde looked up from her food tray to the blue eyed girl asking her the question, and bit her lip cautiously. She couldn't tell her friends the truth, not yet anyway, but Quinn always did have a hard time lying to Brittany. Santana she could handle, but Brittany was another story.

"I was feeling better than I had in a long time, is all," Quinn flashed a sincere smile to the other blonde before taking a mouthful of chips and hummus.

"Tubbers, you fell out of a damn chair; you must of had the Holy-fuckin-Spirit flowin' through you to do that."

Quinn rolled her eyes, but chuckled at Santana's comment, "I just felt good. I must have been leaning back in my chair without realizing it and just slipped."

Matching Quinn's eyeroll the brunette sipped on her dark green shake, "If you say so, Tubbers."

"San, can we go to the bookstore?" Brittany smiled and laced her fingers with Santana's.

"Why do you wanna go to the bookstore, Baby?" The brunette kissed the blondes knuckles and Quinn smiled softly at the gesture. No matter what reputation Santana had, she would always be a total teddy bear at heart.

"_You'd know what I'd like kiss right now?"_

"_Hmmm?"_

"_Bacon pizza."_

"_Oh _yes."

"I want the new Super Duck story," Brittany smiled and started dragging her girlfriend from the booth and heading to the bookstore, "Will you pretty, pretty please pay half with me?"

"I'll pay for all of it," Santana responded immediately with a dreamy smile on her face.

Quinn chuckled as she trailed behind them, feigning interest in a dress shop.

"Hey, I'll meet up with you, okay? I'm going to go look at a dress in here."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Q; Britts and I are about to go get are reads on."

This time Quinn let out a full bellied laugh, "Your reads?"

The brunette growled and stalked off pulling Brittany along with her who called out, "We'll catch up with you later, Q! If you need us we'll be in the duck section!"

The hazel eyed girl just smiled and waved as they walked out of sight.

"Finally, _I can get my pizza."_

The blonde smiled triumphantly and turned around on her heel…

"Oomph!"

"Achk!"

"I'msosorry!"

"No, I'm sorry!"

"Rachel?"

"Quinn?"

"Hi! Oh my god, I'm so sorry I ran into you!" The blonde placed a hand on the shorter girls shoulder, "Are you okay, I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, no, just think of it as payback for me running into you a few days ago."

Rachel smiled at Quinn, and Quinn would've sworn she would have melted right then and there if it weren't for the other thoughts running through her head;

"_God, she's beautiful."_

"_Yeah, okay, but, have you thought about how she is derailing your plans for pizza?"_

"_Her smile… those shining eyes…"_

"_The sizzly sizzle… the enchanting aroma…"_

"So, Rach," The blonde smiled, pulling her beanie down over the tips of her ears, "What are you here for, just hanging out?"

"Actually, my fathers decided I needed a break from my computer. They seemed to have noticed my ever growing addiction to it." Rachel smiled shyly and Quinn noticed that the girl was rubbing her upper arm,

"_She must be nervous; she only does that when she is."_

"_Make a move, Q, make a move."_

Quinn bit her lip and gently placed her hand over the hand that was pawing at the arm, and brought it down between them, "Am I making you nervous or something?"

"No, of course not! I just.. I guess I am a bit scared that you'll think it's weird that I'm getting addicted to my computer."

Rachel looked down at Quinn's hand holding hers, and the blonde examined the way a brief light floated through Rachel's eyes. She took it as a good sign and moved her fingers just holding the top knuckles of Rachel's, to holding it palm to palm and walking with Rachel through the mall, back to the food court.

"I don't think it's weird at all."

Quinn thought back to earlier that evening and tried to hide a smile that was fighting to show itself. She had actually held a long conversation with Rachel, talked about random things that her heart adored, made Rachel blush and keysmash (_keysmash!)_, and got Rachel to admit that she had a crush not only on her blog but on her!

"_Charlie."_

"_Me."_

"_Charlie."_

"_Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I'm going to pout."_

"_Don't pout, you're in public!"_

"_Pouting."_

"I'm really glad you don't think it's weird. My fathers were getting quite ups- Quinn, are you pouting?" Rachel laughed quietly under her breath and looked up at Quinn who had her bottom lip subtly jutting out and her puppy dog eyes shining.

She practically flailed (she'd been doing that a lot lately) as she tried to compose herself, "Noo.."

"Okay…" Rachel just chuckled and walked along wherever Quinn was taking her.

"Where are we going, if you mind I ask?"

"We're going the long way around to the food court."

"Why the long way around?"

"So Brittany and Santana don't realize that I ditched them for food."

Rachel let out a laugh and hid her face against Quinn's shoulder - not missing the way Quinn's breath hitched, just like it had in the car last night.

"You ditched them for food? Why not just ask them to join you?"

"I ditched them for food because I was trying to be considerate."

Rachel laughed louder and squeezed Quinn's hand, "Oh my god, you can't be serious. Considerate?"

The blonde smiled and squeezed Rachel's hand, realizing how silly it sounded. "Yes! Considerate because they're on the strict Cheerios diet and I didn't want to flaunt my freedom in their faces."

"That sounds much better," Rachel chuckled and Quinn couldn't help but smile at how much she had heard that beautiful laughter already tonight. She thought how she had explained to Rachel exactly how she felt for her…

"_Of course… I had told her as Charlie… and Charlie was talking about The One who is Rachel…" _

"_But Rachel doesn't know that… does she?"_

The pair arrived at the pizza stall and looked up at the menu, still hand-in-hand.

"They have vegan pizza here, too, Rach, in case you didn't know." The blonde smiled as she said it, but kept her eyes on the menu.

"_Just order the damn bacon pizza already."_

"_I have to not look so needy over meat."_

"_It's been a battlefield to get this far! Order. The. Pizza."_

"I'll have a vegan vege pizza slice, please," Rachel told the cashier with a smile.

"I'll have one too," Quinn told the cashier, defeated. Her heart overruled her stomach.

"_You deserve to starve, Quinn! You have no strength. NO STRENGTH."_

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Rachel said softly, but with a smile that held more meaning and happiness than Quinn had ever seen on the smaller girl. Quinn felt any last resistance to withholding a bacon pizza slice she had crumble and the sincerity in the girl's smile.

"_I'm a goner."_

"I know, Rach," She tried to match the brunette's smile and then turned towards the server as she picked up the two plates and led them to an empty table.

"So, Ms. I-Have-An-Internet-Addiction, what has been keeping you glued to the computer screen?"

Quinn smiled as the other girl prepared for a spiel by tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear and clearing her throat. "First and foremost, I will tell you what I told my fathers: I do not have an internet addiction. I merely am intrigued with the online world more than I usually am, and since I am on it more than usual it just appears as if I have an addiction because my time span on the computer and/or internet has increased to amounts that do not appear normal in comparison to my usual allotted time slots for internet usage."

"Allotted times, hm?" The blonde teased.

Blushing, Rachel continued, "Yes, Quinn, allotted times. I have a very busy schedule and it is imperative that I have everything planned out. I even planned out the time we are currently using. It's labelled 'free time' in my day planner. Actually, my internet time has recently intertwined with my free time, but that's besides the matter."

"You have not yet answered what is keeping you on your computer," Quinn raised her eyebrow and smirked. She knew exactly what was keeping Rachel on her computer, it was _her._

"_Charlie."_

"_Shut up."_

"I… well, to be honest with you… I have started a blog. I must admit I don't post on there a lot because I'm more intrigued with other blogs, but the whole blogging-sphere is what has been keeping me occupied."

Rachel picked at her pizza toppings shyly before taking a large bite, and Quinn softened at realizing that Rachel was actually embarrassed from it all.

"Hey, it's okay that you like blogging and everything; and it's okay that you use your free time doing it. If you like it, and it makes you happy, I'm glad that you found it." Quinn reached across and placed her hand on top of Rachel's, "I mean that."

Rachel met Quinn's eyes with an unbelieving but appreciative, hopeful, and happy glow.

"I- Okay.. Do you want to know about the blog that I really adore the most?"

Quinn's heart pounded in her chest, and she took off her scarf just to let her shaky hands have something to do. She nodded, trying to keep a lax exterior, "More than anything," She smiled.

"Well, it's run by this girl named Charlie. Every time I read on of her posts, message her, get a reply, read her tags - oh, those are little like things to search by, but most people put their thoughts in them - or see pictures she posts, or anything, my heart stops and my palms sweat, and then it all reverses and I get jittery and excited. I talked with her tonight for the first time, one on one in a chat room. It was the happiest, most exhilarating thing to have happened to me in a long time; she's phenomenal, and she loves stars!"

"_Oh my word, I do all of that to her? I make her excited and nervous and happy?"_

"_Charlie does."_

"_Charlie is me, dumbass, I'm tired of you, shoo."_

"_I'm apart of you too, _dumbass._"_

"_Well, me needs to shut up."_

"Keep going, I like hearing you ramble on. It's cute," Quinn smiled. Rachel gave her a cute baffled look, but trekked on.

"I think I really like her. I know I just broke up with Finn, and by the way, I need to thank you for that. You helped me realize I deserve better than him. But, Charlie just… she makes me feel more than Finn ever did. She talks about things I enjoy, has all these intense and imaginative ideas and words and visions that speak to me, and just… Quinn, I think… I can trust you right? We're friends now?"

Quinn sat up and looked Rachel in the eyes, now scared about what Rachel had to say, "Of course, Rachel, I know I've been shitty to you for a long time but I'm really trying to make up for it. I promise you can confide in me, and I will not tell a soul. We're friends, and I want to make sure that you know that, and that I will do everything in my power to protect you because that's what friends do."

Rachel nodded and licked her lips as she prepared to tell Quinn what had been eating at her since the first day she laid eyes on Charlie's words.

"I think… I'm falling for this person I've never met or seen. I've only known them to exist for a little over a week. And that's a problem. Because not only do I not know anything about them besides their words, they have someone else too. They're madly in love with this person they refer to as "The One." I couldn't compete with that, and nor would I want to. I could never come between her and the person she loves."

"_TELL HER, QUINN. TELL HER."_

"Rachel, I-"

"There you are, Tubbers! We've been looking all over for you!"

"_Fuck."_

Santana glowered as she carried the Barnes and Nobles bag; while she and Brittany had gotten their lady times and reads in, she had walked far more than she wanted to looking for Quinn, on incredibly sore legs from Cheerios practice.

Brittany hopped into Quinn's lap and kissed her cheek, "We bought the duckie book. It's so cute, there are lots of pictures! But don't worry, I'm going to read all of the words too!"

"That's great, Brittany," Quinn tried her best to give Brittany a smile, and looked quickly back to Rachel so the other blonde wouldn't notice the true effort she was giving to look happy. The brunette across from her didn't look as if she was giving as much effort, however, because her features were drooped and she was rubbing her upper arm. All Quinn wanted to do was go sit next to her, grab her hand, and whisper how she was the one she wanted; that she was Charlie and that the girl she was falling for was right next to her, and how they could have their supernova of a kiss in this smelly mall in their small hometown of Lima, Ohio, with everyone watching and envying their earth-shattering swipes and movements.

And she was about to because she was past the point of caring, but suddenly Santana's (_not quite as soft as Rachel's_) hand had grabbed her own and was calling a goodbye to the 'hobbit' and babbling about the mall being 'too fucking hot' and how her mom would kill her if she wasn't home by ten-thirty.

They were halfway to the parking lot, Quinn's mind scrambling to keep up with what just happened and trying to find an excuse to run back in and tell Rachel everything, when she remembered:

"I forgot my scarf! I'll be right back!" The blonde turned and ran faster than she ever did on the Cheerios, and arrived to the table they had been sitting at, at record speed. Except there was one problem. While her scarf was safe and sound, Rachel wasn't there.

"Damn it," she muttered when she scanned the area for the petite brunette.

She sighed and put her scarf on as she made her way to the exit.

"_Wait!"_

She turned around and ran back to the food court.

"Two slices of bacon pizza, please."


	9. When Charlie Found Rachel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbeated, all mistakes are mine!**

Rachel laid in bed at 4:24 in the morning staring up at the ceiling. She had awoken from a strange dream, one that was making her mind run with questions and fear. She didn't know how to explain it, and the idea that was currently forming within her cranium was threatening to make its way down to her heart to take hold and burrow there forever.

Her dream had started off simple enough. She had been walking through the park on a wonderful spring day, her earbuds snuggly in her ears listening to a melody made from violins, pianos, and flutes. There was a lightness in her walk, and a soft smile easily formed on her lips. The trees fluttered in the wind, and the birds sang in tune with the music from her headphones. The world felt right, except for the very noticeable feeling of missing something. Something that was right there at the edge reaching out to her; it felt as if something was just on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite grasp what she was trying to say or comprehend. An elusive fact running in circles with her, around and around, and always dodging her grasping hands.

She made her way down the concrete path that circled the empty park, and ventured off it to go sit on the swings. She kicked her legs lazily against the weathered ground, and gripped the cold metal that held up the hard plastic seat. She had loved to swing when she was a child. She could have swung for hours if her fathers had permitted it. It always felt so freeing; as if she were flying into a space that she wasn't usually allowed into. A space for only her, that was reserved for only her - when she could fly high enough to reach it, that is. But, now, as she sat on the familiar seat and gripped the comforting metal chains, she felt more than a little restless - unable to swing to that usually unreachable place. She felt like she couldn't fly. She felt like she was stuck trying to make a decision, but it was about that thing she couldn't quite grasp.

"Is this seat taken?" A soft voice asked into the clear spring air.

"No," Rachel responded softly to the voice. She didn't turn to see who it was. She just seemed to know, "Hi, Charlie."

She felt the girl smile next to her, as if her body could sense the other girls movements. She heard Charlie sit in the swing next to her, grip the clanging metal chains, and whisper with a soft, happy tone, "Hi, Rachel."

"What are you doing here," Rachel asked in the same soft tone. They spoke quietly, afraid that speaking too loud would break the surreal dream that wrapped around them.

"I'm here to see you. I missed you. I thought talking in person would be better than talking only through a screen."

Charlie's swing began to creak as Rachel felt the girl kicking her legs into the air. The air wafted up around Rachel as Charlie kicked an air current up with each swing of her legs. Rachel could see the black skinny jeans and the grey chukka boots that clothed Charlie's body - she had seen the clothes somewhere before, but once again rachel couldn't grasp just where she had seen them - but she still didn't turn to look at the girls face.

Rachel began pushing her legs back and forth to gain momentum as she replied to the girl next to her, "I missed you too."

She felt Charlie smile, and that was all she needed to thrust herself into that usually unreachable zone of freedom and flight. Together the pair flew into the air, only to be drawn back by the unbeatable force of gravity and back up once more. They swung in union; their knees bending and kicking in time with each other. Soon, their bubbling laughter filled the air as they raced each other to see who could fly the highest; tying with each other every time.

Everything else besides their legs kicking and the chains they held, blurred around Rachel in magnificent colors and swirls. The nagging feeling of forgetfulness faded into the background, and Rachel had let her happiness flood through and veins and radiate out through her laughter and smile.

Joy pulsed through her legs and body as she pushed her way higher and higher into the sky, and she laughed as Charlie reached out to try and catch her. Charlie's familiar melodic laugh floated through her ears and wrapped itself around Rachel's mind.

Through the laughter Charlie called, "Rachel! Slow down for a second!"

Rachel smiled and let her feet scuff the rough dirt ground below her. Her momentum fell and she slowed to a twisting, turning sway. She let a last laugh tumble from her lips, and Charlie reached over with slender fingers and wrapped around Rachel's that were slacking against the now warm metal.

"Hey, look at me." Rachel felt Charlie looking at her with happy, caring eyes and her thumb gently brushing back and forth against her hand, trying to coax her to turn towards her.

"Why?" Rachel asked playfully, staring at her tennis-shoe clad feet digging holes into the dirt.

"Because I want to give you something." There was a hint of mischievousness in Charlie's tone and it intrigued Rachel more than she wanted to admit.

She hummed and smiled towards the ground below, "Is that so?"

"Mhmm," Charlie pulled Rachel and her swing towards her, causing Rachel to come face to face with…

"Quinn?"

And suddenly, her mind exploded and what she had been trying to grasp and comprehend through the entire expanse of the dream made perfect sense. The soft, familiar laughter and voice, the gray boots and black jeans, those smooth, slender hands…

"No, it's me, Charlie." The blonde's smile was tilted and sad as she tried to understand why Rachel had called her another name.

"No, no, you're Quinn. You look like Quinn," Rachel ran the hand that Charlie wasn't holding through her hair and let out a shaky breath. This couldn't be happening.

"Sweetheart, I'm not Quinn. I don't even know who Quinn is. Are you feeling okay?" Charlie's free hand rose and rested against Rachel's forehead, testing Rachel's body temperature. "You don't have a fever, and you look as beautiful as ever," Charlie said, attempting to get Rachel to smile. All Rachel could do however was look back blankly, and try to understand what was happening, "But, you're acting very strangely. Is there anything I can do for you, Sweetheart?"

Rachel didn't know what to do. Here was Charlie. Here was the girl she was falling for, but… It wasn't Charlie, it was Quinn. What did it all mean? Who was who? Why was this happening? Why is Charlie, Quinn? Why is Quinn calling her Sweetheart and pretending to be Charlie? Is Quinn playing with her heart? Why is she here? Why is she acting like she's the girl she's been falling for? Why would she do this?

"Please, don't call me Sweetheart, Quinn." Rachel tried to stand from her spot on the swingset, but couldn't seem to move. She seemed to be glued to the seat, and her hand melded onto the metal chains.

"I..I'm not Quinn, Swee- I mean, Rachel. And I always call you Sweetheart," A soft, loving, cheeky smile spread across Charlie's face, "You're my one remember?"

"I'm… I'm _what?_" Rachel's eyes grew wide and her heart pounded in her chest. She was Quinn's one? Charlie's? _Whose_? This was also so confusing!

"You're my one, Rachel. I've told you before. You're my one and only. I love you," The shaggy-haired blonde squeezed Rachel's hand gently, "I'm really worried, right now, Rach; you're acting really weird… There's not… There's not someone else is there? Someone else named… Quinn?"

Charlie's eyes shone with tears, and her jaw was clenched tightly to try and hold back any trembles or tears.

"I… I don't think so?" Rachel responded in a confused tone and examined Charlie's features searching for anything that might give her away as Quinn. Something that proved this was a joke. She looked like Quinn exactly. She had to be Quinn! What was she pulling? What was she trying to do?

"Y-You don't _think_ so? S-sweeth- I mean, R-Rach…" Charlie shakingly grabbed Rachel's other hand and a tear found it's way down her reddening cheek, "I love you… We're… We're engaged to be married in November, remember? T-There can't be anyone else because we're _in love_… _Together_, Rachel. We promised each other to be committed to only one another… You're my one, Rach, and you said that I was yours… that couldn't have been a lie… I know in my heart that, that wasn't a lie, Rachel!"

Charlie was crying full-on by the time she was able to get those words out from her mouth, but all Rachel could do was go wide-eyed and practically yell, "Married?! I'm only seventeen!"

"Oh God, Rach…" Charlie cupped Rachel's cheek and looked over the brunettes face with sad and terrified eyes, "Rachel… We're twenty-four years old. I proposed to you last May… Don't you remember, Honey?"

"What, no, NO! Quinn.. Charlie! I-I This isn't possible! I'm seventeen! Seventeen!" The brunette wanted to run, scream, fly, anything, but she couldn't move. She was stuck to this swaying swing with Charlie holding onto her as if she were about to sink away into oblivion. Rachel didn't care if she did, as long as she could get away from this confusion that was clouding her mind like an incredibly thick, icky fog.

Charlie sobbed into the spring air and looked over Rachel's face in agony. Rachel felt terrible for making the girl she loved cry, but she didn't know if it really was her or if it was Quinn or what she felt, because right now everything felt like one big jumbled mess. This couldn't be Charlie. There was no way that she could be Charlie. She was not twenty-four years old. She was not engaged. She wasn't even sure if she loved Charlie or not, and she sure as hell had no idea why Charlie looked like Quinn, or if Quinn was really just some weirdo pretending to be Charlie.

"Rachel… oh my Sweetheart," Charlie's voice remained soft and she wrapped her arms around Rachel's stiff body, "It'll be okay, it'll be okay, I promise. We'll fix this. I'll make sure you understand everything, and I'll make you remember, I promise… I promise…"

And then suddenly, it was over. Everything was black, and Rachel slowly opened her eyes to her equally as black room.

It was 3:31 when she had awoken from her dream, and here she was an almost hour later still contemplating what it all meant.

Was Quinn representing Charlie in her dream because of something superficial like her beauty, or was it because Rachel had an ever-growing on the crush blonde?

The way Quinn had been treating her lately, had quickly apologized for her past abuse last night, had seemingly flirted with her, and had defended her from Finn after the breakup had all accounted for making Rachel's affection for the blonde grow exponentially in a short period of time.

Or did it mean that Quinn or Charlie was hiding something? Charlie, of course, she could excuse because Rachel really had no right to know what Charlie had to hide or keep to herself… and if she was being honest with herself, she had no excuse regarding Quinn either.

Rachel couldn't shake the questions from her mind. Why? Why was Quinn represented as Charlie? Why was she twenty-four years old? Why did she not remember what Charlie was telling her, when usually in her dreams she could recall everything even if she had never been in the situation or dream before. Everything in her dreams usually always flowed and made sense, but this time she awoke with a clouded mind.

She thought of Quinn and how kind she had been last night; how Quinn had ordered a vege pizza instead of the bacon one she so obviously wanted. She thought about how she didn't make fun of her when Rachel had told her she was possibly becoming more accustomed to the computer. She thought of how she had actually listened to her when she had talked about Charlie.

"_That's all it is. I talked to her about Charlie, she had to leave in a hurry, and my worry about what her thoughts are created this dream in response."_

"_That does make a bit of sense. The fog and forgetfulness show your worry for not knowing Quinn's thoughts on the matter."_

"_It's just a weird dream is all. It's not like it's true or anything. You won't be marrying Quinn… Charlie?... when you're twenty-four."_

"_Maybe I will be… you never know."_

"_It's Quinn Fabray, Rachel. Get a grip."_

"_Maybe my subconscious is telling me that I like Quinn, since it put her in place of a girl I like."_

"_...She is gorgeous."_

"_And smart. And she's becoming so, so kind."_

"_She's funny, and adorable."_

"_I'm pretty sure I could get her to appreciate stars…"_

"_Oh no…"_

"_What…"_

"_Rachel Berry, you're falling for Quinn Fabray."_

Rachel groaned and rubbed her face and looked at the clock: 4:57AM.

"_It's way too early to be having epiphanies."_

She flung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly made her way to her bathroom. She needed a long, hot bath to think things over. Nothing really made sense, except the fact that she was indeed falling for two girls and she didn't have a chance with either of them.


	10. The Lion and the Mouse

**Disclaimer: I do not own or its characters**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine!**

Monday morning Quinn and Rachel walked into McKinley High equally nervous, frightened, and excited - for different reasons.

"_Oh my god, what if I see her today?"_

"_Of course you'll see Rachel today, you have Anatomy, Economics, and Glee with her."_

"_What if she talks to me? What will I do?"_

"_Uhm.. talk back to her?"_

"_Right, good plan. Do I tell her about Charlie?"_

"_We thought about this all weekend. You need to do it strategically; romantically…"_

"_Oh my god, what if I see her today?"_

"_Of course you'll see Quinn today, you have Anatomy, Economics, and Glee with her."_

"_I'm going to die. Have you SEEN her? She actually TALKS to me now! I've been thinking about her all weekend long, how am I not going to just stare at her lips when she converses with me?"_

"_You'll have to concentrate, Rachel. Focus on… her nose or something and attempt to listen."_

"_I can't do that! Are you crazy? Her nose is gorgeous too! I'll be thinking about her lips - staring at her lips! - and why she was Charlie in my dream, and why she's been so nice to me lately, and it's still all so confusing and really I just want to kiss her."_

"_That would scare her off in an instant! You'll have to find a way to get closer to her strategically; romantically…"_

Quinn and Rachel entered their first period of the day - AP Calculus and AP Chemistry respectively - and opened up a notebook.

Quinn stared down at the blank page, tapping her pen dully on the clean, white, lined pages. Her mind was racing, trying to create a plan of action for the day. She titled the header of the paper, "Operation Favorite." She smirked at her cleverness; since Rachel was becoming an internet guru, Quinn was sure she would have clicked the bookmark button - a gold star - and in Quinn's mind a gold star was Rachel. It was all a metaphor for Rachel, and like the brunette always said, "Metaphors are important."

Similarly, Rachel was looking down at her own notebook trying to come up with a clever name for her plan; however, the title wasn't coming as easily for her.

"'_Charlie Quinn?' maybe?"_

"_No, no, that is _incredibly _obvious, especially with the question mark."_

"_I got it!"_

Rachel smiled triumphantly and wrote in her scribbly script, "The Lion and the Mouse." It was perfect. The lion represented Quinn and her previous animosity towards Rachel, and the HBIC attitude she still conveyed around school even though she wasn't on the Cheerios anymore; and the mouse represented Charlie, a strong, courageous, but small and kind person. Rachel needed to figure out why Quinn had represented Charlie in her dream. She had to figure out why exactly. She knew she had been worried about Quinn's response to Charlie, so that might have been it, and it was most likely because she harbored feelings for Quinn and Charlie, but her sixth sense was tingling and she just had to find out why.

The two were going to have a lot of homework that night because they focused solely on completing their plan of action. It was going to be a long day, but by God, hopefully it would be worth it and more.

* * *

_**The Lion and the Mouse: Point Alpha Niner 001 - Sit next to Lion whenever possible. Analyze and compare any noticeable quirks, words, or feelings to explain the phenomenon of why Lion was Mouse while in an unconscious state. **_

Rachel walked in to third hour Anatomy, pleased to see Quinn already sitting at one of the lab stations. She lightly skipped over to the empty chair next to Quinn, who seem deeply focused in a calculus worksheet.

"Hey, Sarah," said the blonde who hadn't looked up from her paper. Sarah was the girl who usually sat by Quinn, but today she was just going to have to find another place to sit. They didn't _technically_ have assigned seats in here.

Rachel cleared her throat and sat next to Quinn. She smiled fondly at the deep look of concentration on the blondes face, "Hi, Quinn." The said girl's head snapped up comically and jumped back with surprise, falling backwards in her chair until her back slammed to the hard ground and the chair dug painfully into her back - _again._

"Oh my god! Quinn!" Rachel yelped as the few others that were actually on time began laughing, whom were promptly glared at by the brunette. The blonde just groaned and arched her aching back to try and subside the pain. Rachel quickly clambered off her chair and helped Quinn up, trying to focus on taking care of the blonde and not how soft the girls hands were or how perfectly their hands fit together.

"Do I need to take you to the nurse, are you okay?" Rachel whispered, "I have medicine in my locker, I know it's against school rules and people usually tend to think of me as a peachy-clean rule abider, but I do think that the medicine rule can be bent; especially when it comes to situations such as these. Also, it comes in handy for that time of the month, so now if you ever run out of pain medication you know where to find some. Wait, the makes me sound like a drug dealer, oh my god, forget that last part. I don't have medicine. Nope, none. That is, unless you need some because I want you to not hurt, obviously."

By this time, Quinn was back up in her chair watching Rachel ramble on about her well being with a soft smile and Rachel's hand absentmindedly rubbing her slightly-ebbing aching back - which she didn't mind at all.

"Rach," Quinn smiled gently, "Breathe."

Rachel bit her lip and fawned at the caring look Quinn was giving her.

"_Oh help me, look at her. My heart is about to have a seizure or something with how fast it's beating."_

"_Rach, you're supposed to be caring after her. She just fell, and it was basically your fault for scaring her."_

Taking an unusually deep breath, with a glint of playfulness in her eyes, Rachel asked, "You're okay, right?"

"You rubbing my back is helping a lot, I wouldn't mind you continuing until actually decides to show up."

Quinn looked hopeful, and who was Rachel to deny the beautiful girl such a thing if it helped her feel better and allowed Rachel to touch her; it was a win-win situation.

"Uhm, you're in my seat."

Rachel turned to a light-skinned, light-brown headed girl with a beaming smile, but a "I-dare-you-to-ask-me-to-move-again" look in her eye, "I apologize for my ignorance. Do you mind if I sit here today?"

The already light girl paled even more and her eyes grew wide at the look Rachel was giving her. The petite girl was downright terrifying. "No, no, please go ahead; I-I'll find somewhere else to sit, don't worry about it, sit there as long as you like." The girl nodded and fast-walked over to Rachel's normal seat.

Rachel turned back to Quinn, who was giving her a smirk and a raised eyebrow, "Well, well, well, Ms. Berry, did you just adopt the HBIC glare? I didn't know you had it in you. I must say, I'm rather proud." The blonde wiped away a fake happy-tear, and Rachel just playfully swatted her shoulder, "Oh, whatever."

Quinn just laughed, and turned back towards the front of the room where their teacher had finally decided to show up and do her job; Rachel was more than a little disappointed that she had to remove her had from Quinn's lower back.

Acting as if she was paying attention, Rachel stared towards the faded-auburn haired teacher who was going over the Nervous and Respiratory systems. Instead of listening to her, Rachel thought back to her conversation with Charlie just before going to the mall. She thought of how Charlie told her there were over a septillion of stars in the universe, and she imagined Quinn telling her she was the only star that mattered. She thought of how Charlie had spoken about the concept of zero - adding them on to a another number makes it bigger and bigger - and she imagined Quinn telling her that they could add on as many zeros to that first day as they wanted to in their life together, keeping it going and going for infinity. She thought of Charlie being disgusted with Finn for feeding her meat, and she remembered Quinn ordering a vegan pizza instead of ordering the pizza she so obviously was craving. She thought of Charlie wanting to smack Finn, and she remembered Quinn kicking Finn in the shins in her honor. Charlie and Quinn… They were both so different, yet both so, so alike.

Rachel looked down at Quinn's notebook. The familiar handwriting (Rachel couldn't figure out why is was familiar, it's not like she had looked at Quinn's handwriting before - had she?) filled each line and margin because unlike Rachel, she seemed to be paying attention seeing as the entire page was scribbled with notes, arrows, boxes, and highlighted lines.

"_Maybe I should have been paying attention, with all the annotations it looks important." _

"_Oh, oh! Ask for her notes after school, maybe she can come over and help you with it!"_

"_Study date! Genius!"_

The rest of the hour, Rachel scratched out and appended her already memorized plan of action to get Quinn to agree to come over to her house and to make Quinn's time there as comfortable as possible. She was going to make it the best damn study time ever, or so help her Barbara may she be mute for a week and let the other Glee kids get all of her solos.

* * *

_**The Lion and the Mouse: Point BZ 002X - Get Lion to agree to spend a study time together. Prepare appetizing food for Lion, possibly show Lion the Mouse.**_

As soon as the bell rang, and Quinn was putting her notebooks away in her backpack, Rachel leaned over and tapped the girl on the shoulder, "Quinn? May I speak with you for a moment?"

The blonde hiked her bag over her shoulder and smiled at Rachel, "Of course, Rachel, let's walk to my locker while we do though."

Rachel nodded and grabbed her back as they walked through the door and out into the crowded hallway, "So, I have a confession to make," Rachel began.

Quinn turned her head towards Rachel with a worried, confused expression, "Okay, what is it?"

"I didn't pay attention _at all_, last period," Rachel blushed to the tips of her ears and looked up at the ceiling as the walked, thoroughly embarrassed.

"_You,_ Rachel Barbara Berry, didn't pay attention in class?" Quinn had an unbelieving smile of her face and a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Though Rachel was completely embarrassed, she sighed with a smile on her face and managed to nod, "That is the case, yes. I was wondering if you would be able to come over to my house tonight and explain everything to me."

Rachel didn't fail to notice the way the blonde's bottom lip instantly was between her teeth in contemplation and a flash of… of _something_, went through Quinn's eyes, "Everything, huh?"

Rachel smiled softly, "Yeah, I didn't pay attention at all, and I'm afraid I didn't take any notes. I'm also sure you're more than aware that Ms. Crawson didn't pass out textbooks this year, so I'm sort of stuck. I'd be more than happy to pay you with… I'm not sure, what do you need? I usually offer voice lessons, but I think you're actually perfect despite my previous mark that you're a bit sharp."

Quinn's eyes went wide and she whispered breathily, "You think my voice is perfect?"

Rachel stuttered at realizing what she just said, "I-I, well, y-you see… yes.. pretty much… uhm.. no, more than pretty much, actually.. you're my favorite singer in all of Glee."

Rachel mentally slapped herself for being so obvious. She was supposed to be subtle and romantic, but she decided that she didn't really quite mind how obvious she was if Quinn kept looking at her like… like _that._

"You're my favorite singer too, Rach," Quinn's face was so open and vulnerable that right then and there Rachel knew that she had to take the advice she had given Charlie. She had to take whatever chance there was, no matter how miniscule. She had to get Quinn as her own because her heart was set. Whatever she felt for Charlie - love, infatuation, intrigue? - was tripled as she looked at Quinn in that moment. If she hadn't felt that Quinn would run away, she would have kissed her in the middle of the hallway with everyone around.

"So.. My house tonight? 6:30 sound okay?"

Rachel waited with bated breath as a smile spread its way across Quinn's face, "6:30 sharp."

* * *

_**The Lion and the Mouse: Point BZ 002X/1 - Lion agreed. Prepare vegan lasagna, put a movie on in the background on mute to make it a more homey atmosphere for Lion, prepare living room with extra pencils and highlighters, laptop for searching things that need more explanation, and a blanket for if Lion gets cold. Comfort is of the utmost importance.**_

At exactly 6:30, the Berry household's doorbell rang. Rachel smiled at Quinn's punctuality and skipped over to the front door. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded proudly at the scene she had created. On the coffee table sat two plates of home cooked vegan lasagna, two glasses of water, and on the tv was the Sound of Music's DVD menu. The movie was interesting enough to watch while they ate, and long enough that they could study for a few hours before the credit roll.

Rachel turned the knob and instantly her breath was taken away at the sight of a casual, mussed-up haired, Quinn Fabray.

"What?" Quinn asked knowingly with a small smile.

"Nothing, nothing, you just look so different from the school Quinn I'm used to. This casual look is a _really_ good look on you, and I don't know if I told you that when we were at the mall."

Quinn just shrugged and smiled, "I just wanted to be comfortable."

Rachel promptly invited Quinn in, and watched as Quinn's jaw dropped at the setting Rachel had created.

The blonde turned towards Rachel with bright, disbelieving eyes, "You did all of this? Rach, we're only studying."

Rachel just smiled and shrugged, "No need to rush. I believe it is best to be relaxed and have your mind open before engaging in vigorous study."

She smiled as Quinn turned around and obviously tried to hide her excited little hop, and quickly joined the blonde on the couch.

"Sound of Music? It's my favorite!"

Rachel just nodded, "While Funny Girl is my favorite musical, I decided that I'd spare you since it's your first visit here without any other company; and besides, Sound if Music is absolutely to die for."

Quinn didn't bother to respond because the next thing out of her mouth was a moan in response to the divine and heavenly dish Rachel had prepared; "Oh my _word_, Rachel, you made this?"

Pride shone through Rachel's face, "Absolutely. I take it upon myself to provide the best vegan food in Ohio."

Shoveling as much food as she could into her mouth, Quinn gushed, "Open a restaurant, _please_. I'd eat there everyday."

"I definitely wouldn't mind, if I could see you everyday." Rachel went wide eyed at her statement and desperately tried to cover up her mistake, "I-I mean, I already see you five days a week, but I think it would be great to have you enjoy the healthy vegan lifestyle seven days a week to improve your health and heart to ensure that you have a long and fruitful life; I mean, I'm sure you already will, but why not do it the healthy way with healthy food too to make sure you are able to live out life as long and as wonderfully as possible."

Quinn just chuckled and shook her head, "You're cute when you're nervous." The pair both blushed, and sang goofily through each Sound of Music song together.

When their plates were cleared and the two were well relaxed and ready to study, Quinn pulled out multiple notebooks looking for the one that held her anatomy notes.

Rachel absent-mindedly grabbed one that appeared to be a sketchbook/notebook with lots of gold-stars stickered on the front of it, "Mind if I look through?"

Quinn hummed, deep in concentration, and Rachel took it as a sign of permission. She opened the cover and traced her fingers over the perfectly-written cursive, '_Property of Lucy Quinn Fabray. L.C.Q.F.'_ She briefly pondered what the 'C' stood for, but quickly forgot everything as she turned the page. In Quinn's beautiful script were poems scattered on once-white blank spaces, with drawings and doodles of various effort put into them. Rachel's eyes scanned each one carefully, her heart filling with so much emotion and care for this cracking, fragile, and wonderful girl, whom she now realized she barely knew anything about.

"**Status:**

_Eight hours of mindless torture_

_on a little three hours of sleep. _

_I feel suffocated and alone, _

_in a sea full of children. _

_My body wrenches, I've puked and shaken, _

_but that doesn't matter to the authorities. _

_It's about grades and status. _

_It's all about status. _

_Mother demands me to be "popular." _

_Father regards me to be,_

_at the absolute finest,_

_The best in front of others. _

_"Friends" insult pictures._

_What I want doesn't matter;_

_My "status" must be as tall as a tower._

_It's all about status in a world full of lies. _

_So what if I sit here and shake, _

_all that matters is that I don't fail;_

_it doesn't matter if I die."_

"_**Have You Ever Been In Love?**_

_"Have you ever been in love?"_

_She asked._

_"Yes, madly, passionately, and terribly,"_

_I replied."_

"_**Ten Words on Perfection:**_

_You may not be perfect, _

_but you're perfect for me"_

"_**Help:**_

_I'm in love with a girl,_

_And so help me god,_

_When I hear her say,_

_She doesn't feel the same."_

"_**Found:**_

_I found you_

_Brown eyes,_

_A sweet soul_

_And my_

_Dream girl."_

Rachel's eyes went wide, "_Girl? She? Dream girl? Oh my god, oh my god, Quinn Fabray, straight as a stick Quinn Fabray, is lesbian. And in love with someone - a woman for that matter, oh my god, oh my god."_

Rachel quickly closed the journal as Quinn exclaimed, "Ah hah! Found it! I must have slipped it into my 'secret pocket' which is really just a part of the inside fabric that tore."

Quinn's eyes landed on the journal in Rachel's lap and looked up at Rachel's face. The brunette tried to school her features, but she knew that even if she was the best actress in the world, that this was the biggest shock she'd ever experienced.

"_I ACTUALLY have a CHANCE!"_

"Rachel… did you read my journal?" Quinn looked visibly nervous, but hopeful. For what? Rachel didn't know; Quinn was probably hoping that Rachel had just been admiring the gold stars.

"_God, why is the journal covered in gold stars anyway? Why would she pull it out, when she knows I love gold stars. The journal was practically a beacon calling out to be from the depths, 'READ ME. Imagine my owner actually wants you to read this and READ ME.'"_

Rachel cleared her throat and gave her best attempt at a smile, "I… skimmed the first page. You're a beautiful poet, Quinn."

Suddenly, Quinn's whole demeanor changed. She was angry, defensive, and most of all, scared, "What poems did you read, Rachel?"

Rachel decided she would do anything, _anything_, to get Quinn to stay tonight. A little white lie wouldn't hurt, "I read Status," Rachel relaxed slightly when she saw Quinn breathe a sigh of relief, "I had no idea you felt that way, Quinn. It's totally understandable, however, seeing how your parents are all about appearances, and it's only natural for you to want to appease them; but it's not good if it's hurting you. I just want you to know," Rachel met Quinn's eyes and took the blondes hands gently, "That it would matter very, very, very much to me if you died. I don't think I would ever, ever, e_ver_, be okay again. Not without you here on this Earth with me."

Quinn's eyes were watering and suddenly the blondes arms were wrapped around Rachel's small body, and her face was buried in the crook of Rachel's neck, sobbing. The brunette slowly wrapped her arms around the blonde and ran one hand up and through the shaggy, soft locks, "Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm here, I care. I'll always be here for you, I promise. I care. I care. You're important. You're important."

Rachel rocked Quinn gently, and thought through how she should proceed. She decided that she would wait for Quinn to tell her she was gay, until the blonde was ready. But more importantly, Rachel vowed to always protect Lucy Quinn Fabray, to make her feel loved and needed. To make her feel like she was worth every single drop of happiness in the world. That she deserved to be alive.

Because if there was one thing Rachel knew, it was that Quinn Fabray was meant to be walking, breathing, laughing, singing, and dancing her way through life. She knew that Quinn Fabray would amount to beautiful, glorious things. She knew that one day Quinn Fabray was going to make the world her empire, and she hoped that she could be there, next to Quinn Fabray, going off to perform on Broadway and take the world by storm in her own way.

She was going to make Quinn Fabray hers because now her chance was more than real. The blonde was in love with someone, and that in itself made her feel incredibly selfish for wanting to take away that love, but if the other person didn't know about the love then maybe, just maybe, Rachel Berry could become that someone.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! **

**The poems found in this chapter go as follows: Status, Have You Ever Been In Love?, and Help are written by me (Nicole aka fortheloveoffaberry), Ten Words on Perfection was written by Grace, and Found was written by Victoria Jennings. All poems and their respective authors can be found on the Hello Poetry website. I do not take credit for Ten Words on Perfection or Found. Please check out the other poets, they're fantastic.**

**Thanks again for reading. If you're able to, I would greatly appreciate a review. I hope this chapter wasn't too… I don't know… stupid/confusing/didn't-make-sense. I don't feel like this one was of my best writing, but I really sincerely hope that you liked it anyway.**


	11. Operation Favorite

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.  
**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.**

Quinn was lying back on her bed with her right arm covering her eyes. Her mind was wandering relentlessly and constantly conjuring up the memory of being at Rachel's house just a mere twenty minutes ago; along with the smell of the smaller girl, her laughter, the way her arms had wrapped so surely and protectively around her, and how divine the lasagna was.

When Quinn had walked into the Berry household earlier that evening her heart had not been prepared for the night in store and that was evidently obvious when her eyes had landed on the plates of heavenly good and the meticulously laid out blankets and drinks, and her favorite movie ready to be played on screen.

Her heart had soared at it all. Rachel had spent a lot of time setting everything up, Quinn was just sure that it had taken hours to create that masterpiece of lasagna. She just couldn't believe that anyone, let alone Rachel, would take that much time out of their day to do something so above and beyond for _her_.

When the blonde had seen Rachel holding her private journal however, her flying heart crashed into a dark pit. If Rachel had read the ones about her love, she would be out to Rachel in a way that she didn't want. She wanted it to be special, not by accident. She had been trying desperately to grab onto the shining rope of hope that maybe Rachel hadn't read the poem; but then Rachel said she had skimmed the first page and anger had flooded over her. She had not been angry at the brunette, but she knew that she had made it seem that way. She hated that she had done that. She hadn't been mad at Rachel, she had been angry with herself. She was angry that she had been so careless, negligent. Quinn had not even realized she had pulled her private journal out, and was even angrier because Rachel could have found out everything in a way that was not special and personal. It would have made Rachel feel as if Quinn had been lying and hiding and playing games, because further on in the journal Quinn wrote about Charlie and Rachel; both names completely out in the open with no regard or disguise.

Quinn sighed and sat up, and pulled out one of her notebooks from the backpack at the edge of her bed. She flipped through her pages until she found the one she was looking for.

"**Operation Favorite"**

**Step One: **Get closer to her. Flirt with her subtly and make her smile. Don't take too long, get your girl.

**Step Two: **Tell her my feelings for her. Through notes? Song? Hand holding? A KISS?

**Step Three: **Get her to show me Charlie.

**Step Four: **Explain to her that I am Charlie

**Step Five: **Prepare for backlash: Close eyes and heart, listen, deep breaths, deep breaths, don't cry.

**Step Six: **Give her my heart.

**Step Seven:** ? ? ? ?

**Step Eight: **Profit!

Quinn ran her hand through her hair and scanned over the words. She was embarrassed that she had even put the last two steps. She really needed to take a break from the online world… but that could wait; Quinn placed the notebook beside her and grabbed her laptop from the nightstand.

She tilted up the screen, which instantly came to life and typed in her security password. She quickly opened up her blog, as well as her instant messenger.

"_Rachel is on."_

"_Should I…"_

"_..."_

"_I'm gonna do it."_

Quinn clicked on _savingmyvoice_ and opened up a new window…

_Charlie entered the room…_

Charlie: Hey Rach, are you on?

_Rachel entered the room… _

Rachel: Yes! Hi Charlie! :)

Charlie chuckled and typed back.

Charlie: Well hi there! How are you? Was your night good?

_Rachel is typing… _

Rachel: I'm doing okay. I'm having a little trouble in my love life… that sounds weird; I mean it in the way that I'm falling for two people. Good news is that I think I have a chance with one of them, and that's making my heart have multiple palpitations. My night was pretty good.

Charlie: I'm glad your night was good, but oh damn, that does sound like trouble. What are you going to do about the one you think you have a chance with?

Rachel: Do everything in my power to get her. I want her, desperately.

Rachel: She was at my house tonight.

Quinn's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"_**ME**__?"_

"_Oh my god, oh my god, she's __**falling**__ for me?!"_

"_**OH MY GOD.**__"_

"_The love of my life is __**actually **__falling for me?"_

"_This has to be a dream."_

"_This definitely has to be a dream."_

"_I can't breathe."_

"_Fuck. My heart."_

"_I FEEL AWESOME."_

Charlie eyed the Operation Favorite beside her and smirked, "No need for you anymore." She tore out the sheet and made it into her trashcan when she threw it, "Sccorrreeeeeee!"

_Last message sent 7 minutes ago…_

Rachel: You there?

Charlie: Yes! Yes, sorry, ahaha, uhm, did anything happen with her tonight *wink wink*

Rachel: Noooooooo Charlie lol. Well, kind of, but not like you think. Can I tell you a secret?

Charlie: Of course, I won't tell anyone.

Rachel: I read her private journal by accident… well, half-accident. I imagined that she wanted me to read it, but after I had it became evident that, that was not the case.

Charlie: What did you see/read?

Rachel: I realized that this poor, beautiful, amazing girl is broken. Broken beyond recognition. She feels as if she has to be perfect, and that explains why she acted why she did these past years. She feels like she has to be at top or she is nothing, a failure; and she absolutely is not a failure. She's the most stunning, successful girl I've ever met because, you know what? _She survived. _

Charlie couldn't breathe, like_, at all. _She had tears stinging her eyes and her heart hammered against her chest threatening to escape. She had never felt so understood, so loved. For the first time in a long time she didn't feel like the world was about to crash and burn around her. Someone actually understood, and best of all, it was the love of her life.

Charlie: wow.. I don't know what to say, that's just beautiful...

Rachel: She's beautiful

Rachel: Wow that was sappy, true, but sappy

Charlie: Lol, it was sappy! I enjoy it though, tell me more about her?

_Rachel is typing… _

_Rachel is typing… _

Rachel: Okay, well… let's see… she's gorgeous, and I don't just mean beautiful, but I mean _gorgeous_. Captivating, stunning, jaw-dropping. She's glamorous and elegant. What many others don't know though, is that she's all of those things on the inside too. She's beyond smart, and from what I recently discovered an amazing poet and artist. Not many people are able to bring me to tears with their words, but she… she could ask me to do anything and I would. There has always been an indescribable connection between us, and it hasn't always been good, but I know that we have always pushed each other to be the best that we can be. That's what I want in a relationship. I want someone who will help me remember my dreams and help me reach them, all while I'm helping them reach theirs; a partnership, a friendship, a real love.

And in that moment, Charlie became Quinn in a whole new sense. There was no distinction. There was no difference between the two, because Quinn had realized that she wanted to be one whole. One everything. One partner, friend, and love to Rachel Berry. No strings. No distinctions. Just her and Rachel.

Quinn sobbed with a smile on her face because everything she had wanted had finally been said, had finally become true. Rachel wanted to be with her, Rachel thought all those things about _her. _In Quinn's mind she was unlovable; unwanted; unneeded; unvalued; incomplete; but here was Rachel throwing all those thoughts out of the window and giving Quinn a whole new lease on life. Quinn felt _alive._ Really alive. For the first time in years. The happiness she had been feeling for these past couple of weeks were dim in comparison to the absolute joy and light that were filling her entire body. She had a reason to live. She had a reason to be the best she could be. She had a reason to take control over her life. She wasn't afraid anymore. She had no reason to be afraid because her one, her one and only, had made Quinn her one too.

Charlie: Oh Rachel…

Rachel: Sappy I know haha

Charlie: I have a very.. very strong feeling that she feels the exact same way.

Rachel: Lol, how would you know that?

Quinn looked over at the trashcan she had threw Operation Favorite in and smiled. There was no need for a plan now; she didn't have to woo Rachel. Rachel already cared for her. Loved her? She wasn't sure, but it seemed like it, and that was enough to make Quinn want to race to her and tell her everything. She knew she should have done it at the mall that night, but her doubts had gotten the best of her; but she was going to make it right.

Charlie: I know who you like, and I've talked to her. I know that sounds incredibly creepy and I really hope that doesn't make you want to never talk to me again, but trust me, okay?

Rachel: …Charlie? What do you mean you've talked to her?

Charlie: I just have, and I know that's a big shock, but please trust me.

Rachel: …You're kidding, right?

Charlie: Absolutely not. I've got to go. I have something very, very important to do.

Rachel: Wait!

_Charlie has left the room… _

**A/N: I planned to continue this chapter but I felt this was a good place to leave off. If I could reply to all the reviews, I would because they each mean so, so, SO much to me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading, I have the next chapter planned already. I know I updated last night, but I just had to get this chapter out; the reviews were so inspirational and the idea just hit me. Anywho! Until next time!**


	12. The One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.**

Rachel stared at her computer screen blankly, reading over and over the last bit of her conversation with Charlie.

"_I have something very, very important to do."_

"_Wait!"_

"_Charlie has left the room…"_

"_What the _fuck_ just happened?"_

"_What the hell does she mean she knows who I like?"_

"_This can't be happening, it's impossible."_

"_This has to be a joke."_

"_Some terrible, creepy, horrible joke."_

"_How can she let me say all that stuff, and then she just runs off?"_

"_How can she say she knows Quinn, and then run off?!"_

"_What the HELL is going on?!"_

The brunette continued on with similar thoughts for ten minutes, mulling over all the possibilities and the absolute insanity that had instantly entered her life - that was, until her doorbell rang. She really couldn't keep her groan of anguish from escaping her lips as she begrudgingly rose from her bed and trudged towards the door.

"_Of course someone wants to talk right now."_

"_Pray it's just a package being delivered"_

"_With my luck?"_

She rested her head against the front door and took a deep breath, "Who's there?"

"Rachel? It's me. Please open the door."

Rachel pushed back tears, she was just _so_ confused. Her shaking hands slowly unlocked the door and turned the knob. She opened the door and took in the breath-taking sight of one Quinn Fabray. They stared at each other for a few moments, only the sound of their shallow breaths filling the air.

"Hi," breathed Quinn quietly, her hazel eyes scanned over Rachel's face; and Rachel's eyes remained staring at Quinn's wandering eyes, wondering what the blonde was doing here and what the hell was going on in her life.

"Hi," the brunette breathed back.

What happened next was a flurry of motion; Quinn had stepped through the space between them and brought Rachel's lips crashing against her own. Pale hands cupped tan cheeks, and pink lips moulded and pressed together in harmonious synchronization. Rachel couldn't quite comprehend what was happening, but hell if she cared. All she knew was that Quinn's lips were on hers, something she thought she would only be dreaming off for months to come, and that she didn't want the kiss to stop.

Rachel's arms wrapped around Quinn's neck, her fingers tangling in the soft, shaggy locks. Her lips moved delicately against Quinn's as their kiss softened. Quinn's slender fingers trailed down Rachel's cheek, jaw, and down her neck softly, as if she was trying to memorize every curve of Rachel's figure.

After what seemed like forever, they pulled apart reluctantly. Together, their foreheads rested against one another, panting to get whatever oxygen they could back into their body. Their eyes were closed, one pair of their hands intertwined, Rachel's other hand stroking Quinn's hair, and Quinn's other hand stroking the soft skin in the crook of Rachel's neck.

"That's what I had to do," Quinn whispered quietly against Rachel's lips.

Rachel's foggy mind became even more confused, and she whispered back, "What?"

In the softest voice Rachel had ever heard Quinn use, trembling, forced words tumbled from the blondes lips, "That was the very, very important thing I had to do."

Slowly, Rachel's eyes opened as the realization flooded over her. She saw that Quinn's brow was furrowed in deep concentration to keep herself from crying. Her heart broke at the sight, but her anger overwhelmed all else.

Suddenly, everything made sense. Now she knew why Quinn reminded her of Charlie and vise-versa; she knew why Quinn's handwriting had seemed familiar because Charlie had posted a drawing with her handwriting on it on her blog; she knew why she felt a connection with Charlie because she had always had a connection with Quinn; she knew why she adored Charlie's writing because just the same, she adored Quinn's; she knew why she was falling for both because they were the _same damn person._

Rachel stepped back as if she had been touched by fire, "Charlie?"

Quinn stepped forward and Rachel stepped back. Rachel internally cringed when the blonde bit back a sob, "Yes.. I'm Charlie."

"I don't… I don't understand, Quinn." Rachel's eyes began to water and she looked up towards the top of the porch trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Why would you do this, Quinn? Why the hell would you do this to me? Why would you let me fall in love with a person that isn't even real, and lead me on when you knew exactly how I felt for her? …felt for you…? And your "one"? What about her? What happened to her, huh? I lied, Quinn! I lied, I read your poems about a girl, so I know that there is a girl out there that you're in love with, but here you are kissing me just because I let my feelings out to you? Is that it? Is it that you feel so unloved that hearing me confess my feelings for you just drove you to fall in love with me in an instant? Honestly, Quinn," She met Quinn's confused and crying eyes, "I have _no_ idea what's going on. What the fuck do you mean you're Charlie? What does that even mean? How can you be two people, Quinn, tell me, please! I'm so _confused!_ I've been confused for so long now! I knew there was something odd happening, I knew it!"

Quinn reached out to Rachel and Rachel jerked back, "Don't you lay a hand on me, Quinn. Not right now."

It was as if the floodgates had been opened because Quinn's final resolve had broken, and the tears cascaded down Quinn's reddened cheeks. Sobs racked the girls body, and while Rachel wanted to reach out and help the girl, she just couldn't. Not now. Not with all the confusion filling her brain, not without knowing what was going on.

"P-Please, R-Rachel, give me a-a chance to e-explain," Quinn croaked out painfully. Her entire body was shaking, and she appeared as if she would soon collapse to her knees.

The pain of watching Quinn breakdown was almost unbearable, but she had to know; she had to know everything, "You have five minutes to explain everything. I can't handle this. This is it, Quinn. Five minutes."

Heartbreakingly, Quinn drew in an agonizingly deep breath and wiped as many of her still-falling tears from her face as possible.

The blonde drew up her right hand and spoke shakily, "I promise to say the whole truth only or so help me god."

Rachel hated herself for being charmed at the motion.

Quinn put her hand down and talked at a fast pace, "okay, so here it is. I really, really like you Rachel. I always have," begrudgedly Rachel's heart soared, "even when I was a total bitch to you, I loved you. I know I had a stupid way of showing it. But that was mostly because I was terrified.

"Somewhere along the line I became Charlie, and when I say I became Charlie, I mean that I used her as an alter ego to escape my crumbling life. Charlie was my happy side, my creative, adventurous side that wasn't riddled with drama or terrified to be who she was. Just a few mere weeks ago, I created a blog. It was my escape. A place where I could express myself as Charlie.

"And then, somehow, you found it, and I swear to my God Almighty, that I have no idea how you managed that. I was actually upset when I realized you were following me, but then realized that I needed my one," Rachel's breath caught in her throat "_one?"_, "to have me as all of me and not just quinn or Charlie. I needed time to become whole. Also, as you know, I didn't believe I actually had a chance with you, but thankfully you convinced me otherwise.

"I know I should have told you sooner, and I know I shouldn't have talked to you as Charlie and pretended I didn't know who Quinn was, but please, I'm begging you to forgive me. I was still scared. I wanted to get to know you better, and wanted to get closer to you. I wanted everything to play out perfectly, but then you told me how you felt and I knew I couldn't wait any longer because at that moment I wasn't Quinn or Charlie, I was just me. I was whole. Pieced back together by your words.

"The thing is, Rachel, is that _you_ are my one. You always have been. There is no other girl. No other anyone. There never has been. Those poems were about you. I didn't want you to find out my feelings through a piece of writing and not through me, and that's why I got a tad bit defensive last night. I wasn't upset with you, I was upset with myself for being so careless; You found out I loved a girl, but it wasn't through me telling you personally. I wanted everything to be _perfect_. I wanted my love for you to grow into something _perfect. _I couldn't be perfect for you, what you deserve, while being two parts of a whole. I couldn't tell you until I was strong enough. Until I knew for a fact that I could even begin to be all that you deserve."

Quinn emphasized her point by stepping forward and grabbing Rachel's hand. Rachel didn't have the strength to step away because here was Quinn Fabray - head bitch in charge; ice queen; I-don't-like-telling-anyone-anything-about-myself - pouring out her heart to Rachel on the brunettes front porch. Rachel was flying and falling at the same time. She had no idea what to think. She was _furious_ that Quinn had withheld such pertinent information from her for so long, especially when the blonde knew how Rachel felt about Charlie, and how Charlie/Quinn felt about her. It was as if the blonde had been leading Rachel on. If she was Charlie's one, and Charlie was Quinn, why hadn't Quinn just told Rachel that? She didn't understand Quinn's explanation.

Yet, the brunette was also _elated_. The two girls she was falling (had fallen?) for were the same person. She didn't have to choose between them because there was no one to choose between. Both of her dream girls were actually just her one and only dream girl. Along with that, she was Quinn's dream girl. _She_ was the _one_. The one that constantly filled her mind, wanting to know more about her. She felt a connection to Charlie and the one because _she_ was the one and Charlie was_ Quinn_. Her mind could barely keep up with everything, but one word kept ringing through her mind in Quinn's desperate, pleading voice, _"love."_

Rachel's breath was caught in her throat and tears were gathering for a countless time in her brown eyes.

"_She loves me…"_

"_She lied to you, Rachel."_

"_I lied to her too."_

"_Not on the same scale! Her lie was huge! She let you fall for someone that doesn't exist!"_

"_But she does exist. Charlie exists because Charlie is Quinn. Quinn is everything. Quinn is all I've ever wanted. Even when times were rough between us, something was always there. Always. Quinn didn't realize. She just wanted it all to work out. For it all to be _perfect._"_

"_She shouldn't have led you on."_

"_She was doing what she thought was best."_

"_What she did was wrong."_

"_Yes, it was, but it doesn't mean that I don't love her just the same."_

**A/N: Ahhhhhhhhhh! I had so much fun writing this bit! I apologize for any incorrect spellings or grammatical errors. Some of this was written from my phone, so I might have not realized I made a mistake while typing. If I notice anything, I promise to fix it as soon as possible. Anywho, I hope you liked this chapter; we're nearing the end after just about a month of writing. I've had a blast writing it, and I have a few more stories planned. If you're able I'd really appreciate a review. Thank you for reading! **


	13. The Doctors Are In

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine. Special thanks to all the amazing people who reviewed. I want to thank Mad World for saying they're proud of me, goodness gracious, I can't explain how special that made me feel. Also a shout out to Jaely for helping give me the idea to include Quinn's father. And to all the other beautiful reviewers, I can't express my gratitude! This chapter is for you guys; I hope you like it!**

There she stood; her heart poured out, her hand desperately clutching the brunette's, and her entire body shaking in unwelcomed anticipation. Quinn stood on unreliable legs and searched for any clue as to what Rachel was thinking.

Quinn's five minutes had been up about three minutes ago, but Rachel had yet to respond to the blondes explanation. The wait was killing Quinn.

_"Please, God, let her say something."_

_"Why isn't she saying anything?"_

_"She looks like one of those machines that's processing so much information that they freeze on the outside."_

_"Well she needs to dethaw!"_

Quinn looked over the smaller girls rather blank face. Rachel had a distant look in her eyes, which held a few residual tears_. _Quinn'sheart broke; the last thing she _ever _wanted to do was make Rachel cry. She knew she had no choice in doing so, though, because no matter when she had decided to tell Rachel the girl most likely would've gotten hurt. Quinn didn't want to hurt Rachel anymore. She knew that if everything worked out that fights would be inevitable in the future - that's just how relationships worked - but she also knew she would do anything in her power to never intentionally hurt Rachel. She knew that she would always do her best to make Rachel happy and give the brunette the life she had always dreamed of.

"I-I… I need some time… Quinn."

The blonde held the brunettes hand to her face and cried. She cried for holding back so long, she cried for her own heart, but mostly, she cried for Rachel's pain, for Rachel's confusion, for Rachel's heart.

The blonde nodded, sniffed to no real avail, and stood as tall as she could on her weak legs. She met Rachel's blank eyes with her tear-filled ones. All Quinn wanted to do was take the brunette in her arms and make it better. How? She didn't know, but maybe she would take the smaller girl into her arms and just rock and hold her until the world didn't seem so delusional and scary.

Ever so softly, Quinn leaned forward and left a heartbreaking kiss against the brunettes tear-streaked cheek. Using all the strength she could muster, Quinn pulled away and dropped Rachel's hand. She slowly backed away from the girl, and casted one last longing look towards the brunette before turning and walking down the front steps back to her car.

* * *

Quinn ran into her bedroom and flung herself down on her soft comforter. Her face burrowed into her pillow and she screamed. She screamed until her throat was raw; until her lungs were devoid of oxygen; until her face was red; until her heart didn't feel so damn empty.

And then, she cried. She cried until there didn't seem to be any more air to breath into her struggling lungs; until her eyes burned and the skin around them was inflamed; until her nose was running; until her body felt so numb that the tears stopped, and so did everything else.

* * *

Quinn awoke later that night to a loud banging against her locked bedroom door. She groaned quietly and dug her fingers into the soft fabric under her. She pulled it up desperately against her chest. Her head was pounding so badly it made her feel like crying all over again. The knocking persisted, growing louder and louder, quicker and quicker; the noise was definitely not helping the blondes headache.

"Damn it, Q! Open the fucking door!" Santana's voice travelled through the door and into Quinn's pulsing ears.

She groaned again, "Go away, Santana!"

"Bitch, open the door! Your mom called us saying that you were answering her when she knocked and asked Britt and me to come get you out of your damn room. We were supposed to go to the movies tonight anyway."

Physical and emotional pain was laid over Quinn like a thick blanket, and she struggled to pull it off as she attempted to get off the bed.

"Santana… please… can't we just go to the movies another night?" Quinn's voice was broken and quiet, but Santana had heard it anyway.

"Shit, Q… Just open the door, okay? We don't have to go anywhere, I promise," Santana replied softly.

Santana truly cared, and it made Quinn feel the smallest, smallest bit better. Slowly and reluctantly, Quinn trudged her way to her bedroom door. She rested her forehead against the door and called out quietly, "Britt, are you there?"

"Yeah! Hi, Quinn!" Brittany was chirpy and happy sounding, but Quinn knew better. She knew as soon as she opened the door Brittany's sad, caring eyes would meet hers and the taller blonde would see right through her.

"Quinn, open the door, okay? For me?"

The blonde had no resolve to withstand Brittany's request. She slowly unlocked the door and opened it, to come face to face with her two best friends. Santana was obviously trying to look tough, but Quinn could see the real concern shining through the girls eyes; Brittany, however, wasn't hiding anything. She threw her arms around Quinn's neck in a tight hug, and though Quinn was thankful for the gesture, the squeeze was hurting her pulsing head. She quickly pulled away from the hug, but gave the other blonde a soft smile to help assure her that she had appreciated the hug.

"Shit, Q, what the hell happened. You look like shit."

Quinn didn't doubt it. Her eyes were stinging from using up all of her tears, and all around the poor blonde felt pretty pitiful and disgusting.

"San, be nice. You look beautiful," Brittany smiled gently and brushed stray hairs away from Quinn's face. Quinn laid her head on the other blondes shoulder and closed her eyes. She needed this; she needed her best friends. She needed their support because she was sure that she had lost Rachel's. Not just the brunettes support, but all of her. She had lost the only person that she would ever love. Quinn felt that she would never be okay, again.

Quinn yelped as Brittany picked her up bridal style, "BRITTANY! Put me down this instant!"

Brittany just smiled and carried Quinn over to the bed, and laid her down softly. Santana laid down next to Quinn on the right, and Brittany on the left. The couple turned towards Quinn on their sides and smiled down at the girl.

"Dr. Lopez,"

"And Duckter Pierce,"

"Open for business,"

"We take care of all sicknesses,"

Quinn lifted her hands to her face and laughed, _"Oh my god, they haven't done this since middle school."_

The pair each held up a hand to count the 'sicknesses' on their fingers.

"Tummy aches," said Santana.

"Cramps," replied Brittany.

"Sore throats,"

"Scratches,"

"Bruises,"

"Crying eyes,"

"Boy problems,"

"Girl problems," Brittany winked and Quinn blushed; _"she always knows everything."_

"Horny problems," Santana said with a playful glint in her eyes.

"We take care of it all!"

"So, give us a call!"

"We'll be your medical ball,"

"To make you tougher than the Great Wall!"

Quinn smiled up at the ceiling, chuckling and shaking her head, "That's the best and worst thing I've ever heard."

"It made you smile," the couple replied in unison, linking their pinkies together and resting their hands on Quinn's middle.

"I had forgotten all about that," Quinn sighed with a soft smile, "Thank you, guys. That was just what I needed."

"Talk to us, Q," Santana said quietly.

"Yeah, Q, Doctor and Duckter are here. It's okay," smiled Brittany encouragingly.

"We're professionals," the couple again said in time with each other.

Quinn chuckled before becoming incredibly somber. She thought back to middle school when everything had been so simple, but so horrible at the same time. There was no pressure of high school popularity, but her parents had been on a whole other level back then. Her father had just received a big promotion which had fueled his ego, and ironically, his anger. Anything could set him off, no matter how small. If Quinn or her sister, Frannie (who was now off finishing law school and training to take on child abuse cases), were not absolutely perfect in the eyes of Russell Fabray, then all hell would break lose. Things would be thrown, words would be cursed, and fists would collide with his terrified children's bodies - and as always, Judy Fabray would just watch from the sidelines. Whenever Quinn would "mess up" and receive punishment from her father, Santana and Brittany would always be there right after to help Quinn feel better; thus Dr. Lopez and Duckter Pierce were created as a way to give Quinn an outlet; as a way to help Quinn get a few laughs into her otherwise horrifying day.

Softly, Quinn whispered, "I'm gay."

The two girls on the side of her just laughed, "Silly goose, we've known that for a long time," said Brittany.

"Yeah, it isn't like you're very subtle about it," said Santana, "I mean look how you look at me," she winked with a smile.

Quinn managed to crack a smile and smack Santana's arm. She replied playfully, "Oh whatever, you couldn't see that with your eyes glued to Britt all the time."

Softly Brittany brought up the real issue at hand, "Quinn, you know I don't just stare at Santana, so I know that you don't really ever look at her in the way that she's saying… But you do look at Rachel like that." The taller blonde looked over Quinn's face and suddenly, the tears were back.

"Ah, shit, Q," Santana said softly as she wrapped her arms around the crying girl. Brittany ran her hand through the blondes hair, and cooed gently, "Hey it's alright. It'll all work out. Tell us what happened."

Quinn turned towards Santana and buried her face into the soft cotton fabric of Santana's shirt, "I fucked up, you guys. I fucked up so badly."

Santana rubbed Quinn's upper arm as Brittany gently massaged Quinn's scalp.

"Keep going, it's okay," whispered Brittany.

"I created a blog and somehow Rachel found it… I wasn't Quinn on that blog, though.. I called myself Charlie."

"You mean like how you used to do in elementary school?" Brittany asked.

Quinn furrowed her brow, "Huh?"

"Remember," Brittany continued, "when we were little you didn't like to be called Lucy or Quinn so you came up with Charlie. Your dad didn't mind you being Charlie because the name reminded him of a boy and he had always wanted a son, but once you became older he got angry at it and told you to grow up out of your 'silly little imaginary world' and that you were a lady."

"He's such a hypocrite," growled Santana.

Quinn remembered. She remembered being called Charlie by half of her second grade class; how had she forgotten that? She thought she must have repressed the memory, like she did most memories of her father. Quinn didn't want to think of her dad and pressed her face further into Santana's chest, comforted by the familiar smell of her best friend. She decided to banish all thoughts of her father for the time being and continued on with her story.

"Anyway, Rachel found my blog and apparently fell in love with it… and Charlie. About a week or so after she found my blog, I figured out she was following me. By that time, it was already too late and I still believed I would never have a chance with her. Th-"

"Wait, wait," Santana cut her off, "Why would you want a chance with the troll anyway?"

Brittany smacked Santana's arm, "Because she loves her, San, shh, let her finish her story."

Santana grumbled, and Quinn wondered for the thousandth time how Brittany was so smart.

"But then, I got an anonymous message, whom I later figured out it was from Rachel. The anon - Rachel - made me realize that I always had a chance. At the time, I didn't know it was Rachel, but I decided that I would find out if the anon was Rachel or not, because it sounded like her. When I found out it _was_ her, we talked on IM for a little while. When we went to the mall that night, I was going to tell her. I was going to tell her I was Charlie and how I felt, but you dragged me away. So I ran back to tell her, but she was already gone. Then, the weekend came and I got scared; I wasn't going to tell her right away. Which, I now realize was a mistake, but at the same time it was an inevitable fact that she would get hurt. We talked on IM again tonight, and she told Charlie her feelings for me; that was when I knew I couldn't wait anymore. I sped over to her house, knocked on the door, and when she answered… I kissed her. I kissed her for all she was worth. I put every ounce of my love into that kiss. The best part, though," Quinn sat up and closed her eyes, reliving the supernova of a kiss that she had actually had the honor of living out, "she kissed me back."

"Damn, Q…" said Santana with wide eyes, "I didn't know you had it in you."

Quinn looked at the pair as they sat up next to her, "I fucked up because now she never wants to see me again; I just know it. She gave me five minutes to explain myself, so I did; I even told her she was my one and only… I just… She was blank. I couldn't read her face or her thoughts. She said she needed time, but… I don't think that time will ever have an ending…"

Quinn buried her head in her hands and used all the strength she had to hold back her tears.

"I love her so much…" she whispered brokenly.

The couple wrapped their arms around Quinn's shaking body, and held her until her breath evened out.

"Well, it's obvious what we have to do," Santana said firmly.

Quinn looked up at Santana quizzically, "It is?"

"_She better not be planning a slushy attack or I swear to god almighty they won't find the body."_

Santana rolled her eyes playfully with a smirk, knowing full well what Quinn was thinking, "Yes, we have to get your girl back, duh!"

Quinn looked between the two nervously, "How exactly do you plan for that to happen? I doubt she'll ever want to speak to me again."

Brittany kissed the side of the other blondes head, and Santana just scoffed, "Please. For being in love with the hobbit you sure seem to know nothing about her. Have you seen the way she looks at you? The way she fawns over you when you sing? She loves you just as much as you love her; she just needs time to process everything. She's probably really angry that you withheld everything for so long. You just have to show her that you're not Charlie, and not just Quinn. You're everything in one package with a big bow on top! And, what's the number one way to get into Rachel Berry's heart?"

Quinn was beginning to see a ray of hope, "What?"

"A song!" Santana said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (which it was).

Brittany squealed and clapped her hands, "That's perfect! I'll do the choreography!"

Quinn bit her lip in contemplation,

"_Sure, it's a bit cliche…"_

"_But, it's bound to work."_

"_You'll be outting yourself to the entire Glee Club."_

"_I don't care. I only want Rachel. I'll do anything to have Rachel. Anything."_

"Alright, let's do it," Quinn smiled.

The trio began discussing possible songs, and debating who would stand where.

Quinn wasn't sure if what they were doing was going to work. What had happened was a big deal that might not be able to be fixed with just a song; but Quinn had to try. Her best friends had come to the rescue and helped her climb out of the black pit of despair. Like Rachel had said all those days ago, "There's always a chance." She had to get her girl. She wasn't going to let anything stand in her way. Now that she had felt those soft, plump lips moving against her own, and Rachel holding onto her as tightly as Quinn held her cheeks, Quinn knew that there would never be anyway that she could turn her back on the girl who had stolen her heart from the very beginning.

"_I'm going to win the love of my life over. Everyone watch out; Quinn-Fucking-Charlie-Fabray is on a mission."_


	14. Pretty Brown Eyes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: The feedback I have received for this fic is more than anything I have ever imagined. If I could hug every single one of my readers/reviewers I would because you guys mean so, so, **_**so**_** much to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Now, on with the show! **

The school day had been horribly desultory and execrable for one Rachel Berry. She had thought about skipping school, but decided that ruining her perfect attendance record just wasn't worth it; thus explaining why the brunette had indeed walked into the front doors of William McKinley High School knowing that her day would immediately plunge into one of absolute misery and torture.

After Quinn had left yesterday evening, Rachel had collapsed on the couch feeling not much of anything. She had tried her very best to act natural around her fathers when they returned from work, but she had known she had not done a very good job. Her dads had been even more caring than usual and ordered take out from her favorite place that was kind enough to make specialty vegan orders. She loved that her fathers had been kind enough not to pry; she didn't think that she could have handled explaining the entire situation to them - not right then, at least.

Rachel had gratefully accepted a large hug from each of her dads before she had trudged off to bed; only to wake up multiple times during the night with an enormous headache or to a tear-stained pillow. Never-the-less, the brunette did her best to put on her showface to her parents before she left that morning.

When she had walked into her day of absolute misery and torture, she had been holding onto a ray of hope that maybe things would get better if she could just avoid Quinn. Thankfully, it seemed as if Quinn was giving the brunette space because Rachel hadn't seen Quinn except in the classes they shared together. Quinn hadn't talked to Rachel when they were in those classes, and while Rachel was sure that she saw a sad glance be thrown her by Quinn during the middle of Anatomy, Rachel made herself believe she had imagined it. She didn't want to see Quinn, talk to Quinn, or be near Quinn - not yet.

Rachel had not done much thinking last night. She just felt numb and confused. While she usually believed that thinking was the number one cure for confusion, she couldn't gather the strength to think through everything. She did, however, gather a few key points of things she wasn't confused about because they were the facts - it was just the _why_ factor of the facts that confused her. The facts were simple:

1. Quinn Fabray loved Rachel Berry

2. Quinn Fabray was Charlie Q

3. Quinn Fabray lied to Rachel Berry

4. Rachel Berry was confused about why Quinn Fabray lied

5. Rachel Berry was Rachel Berry

6. Rachel Berry loved Quinn Fabray too

Rachel was pretty sure why she loved Quinn Fabray. She loved everything about the girl; the mystery, the beauty, the smarts, the charm, the quirks, the smiles, the laughs, the _Quinn-ness. _It was just that the critical side of her didn't understand why she still loved Quinn when she lied about being Charlie. Rachel had thought Charlie was a whole other human being, but she wasn't. She was just a big figment of Quinn's imagination.

But the logical practical side knew that Quinn hadn't known that Rachel had even been following her for at least a week, and that Quinn didn't know how to go about it. Rachel had heard Quinn's long-winded explanation, which if Rachel were asked she would say she was a tad proud for Quinn ranting and rambling to such a degree, and was shell-shocked to find out that Quinn had loved her for a long while.

Rachel hadn't needed time just to cope with the fact that Quinn was Charlie, but also time to process the fact that _the_ Quinn Fabray was in love with _the_ Rachel Berry.

Rachel loved Quinn too, she was positive that she did. She just needed time alone, to process and think. She had to figure out a way to go about the possible relationship with the blonde. Not only that, she was indeed still mad that Quinn had lied about being Charlie and hadn't told her right away, but ever so slowly throughout the school day as Rachel thought through things Rachel began to see that she probably would have done the same thing if she were to have a alter-ego.

Along with all of her thoughts, headache, and puffy eyes she didn't think her school day could get any worse. Boy, was she wrong.

First on the list, a mere three minutes after Rachel had walked through those evil double doors of WMHS, the one and only Finn Hudson had approached Rachel at her locker, with a dopey grin on his face.

"Hey, Rach," Finn said as he loomed over the girl trying to look cute.

"Finn," Rachel replied curtly.

The boy scratched the back of his head at Rachel's shortness but dove right in anyway, "So, I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight?" From behind his back, Finn brought out a single pink daisy, "Uhm, this is for you. I was thinking we could go to that place you told me about last time we talked, with the vegetarian stuff and everything."

Rachel sighed, "Vegan, Finn."

"Right," The boy smiled dumbly.

Rachel shook her head. She hadn't spoke to Finn since they broke up and he had left her stranded in the Breadstix parking lot. Sure she had been civil to him when they were obligated to speak in Glee, but nothing more. She thought back fondly to how Quinn had dropped everything to pick Rachel up that night; sure Rachel didn't know if Quinn had actually been doing something, but she liked to think that Quinn had just cancelled all her plans to rescue her.

Rachel thought she must have had a smile on her face thinking of Quinn, because Finn took it as a smile meant for him which egged him to place the flower in Rachel's hair. Rachel sort of wanted to smack him for thinking Quinn's smile was for him - not to mention him actually touching her.

"Finn, I apologize, but I'm afraid I have to turn down your invitation." Rachel pulled the flower from her hair and gave it back to the boy. Finn didn't move to take it back, so the girl just let it fall to the ground.

"Oh, it's not an invitation, Rach, it would be a date," the lumbering oaf smiled dopely.

Rachel tried to hold back a glare, _"Didn't I cut down this tree already?"_

"What gave you the idea that I would go on a date with you? Did you think that if I knew it wasn't just an invitation - which, mind you, I did already know that - I'd automatically want to go? Just because it was a date with you? Don't be so egotistical, Finn, it's not a good look on you."

Rachel slammed her locker door shut and stalked off to her first period class. On top of everything else, she really could not deal with Hudson today.

"So, was that a no?" The boy called after her.

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned back towards Finn.

"Are you really, honestly, that feeble minded that you can't even understand me when I say all of that?" Rachel just shook her head and met Finn's eyes, "No. I am not going on a date with you. I most likely will never go on another date with you. Go find some other girl that you can hang on."

With that, Rachel stalked off to her Chemistry class. She tried to feel bad about how mean she had been to Finn because being like that wasn't in her nature; but she couldn't. She didn't feel bad in the slightest. She didn't feel guilty one bit, except for the small guilt that she wasn't guilty at all.

From there the day progressed as any other day normally did, except as she walked down the hall to her fifth period of the day - which was thankfully study hall - something didn't feel right. She inched closer to the right side of the hallway near the lockers because being out of the direct line of sight seemed like a smarter idea than being an open target in the middle of the hall way. Then she heard it, the unmistakable laughter of the football team stomping down the hallway. Mere seconds apart splashes would resound down the narrow hall, signaling the start of a slushy onslaught. She did her best to get to the nearest classroom, but it was too late - right as she turned to run, SPLASH!

But wait… why wasn't she as cold as usual… why did the gasps of a hundred students fill the air? She opened her eyes, which thankfully weren't covered in colored corn syrup, and they grew wide when she realized that _Santana-fucking-Lopez_ had stood in front of her to guard her from the attack.

The latina stood there with her mouth open in response of the cold shock, and purple ice sliding its way down the red and white Cheerios uniform. Rachel only had some on her left arm, far less than what the other brunette had on her.

Rachel heard Santana growl and backed away, fearful that the brunette was mad at her for being near her when she knew a slushy attack was happening.

She gaped when the latina pushed the jock who had thrown the cold ice on her and screamed so the entire hallway could hear her, "Listen here you asswipe, if you _ever _throw shit on me - or Berry - again," Rachel was about to pass out, this had to be a dream, "You will be _mines_, got it? I'm from _Lima Heights_ you jackass, I'll tear you the_ fucks_ apart."

The jock looked as if he were about to piss his pants, and nodded quickly to the scary latina. She pushed the jock away and turned towards Rachel with a grimace that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Get out of here."

Rachel had immediately obeyed and ran her way to the library. She was even more confused than she was before.

"_Why the hell is Santana of all people protecting me?"_

"_It makes so sense, she hates me."_

"_Well, obviously not. She just put a slushy ban on you."_

"_At least I won't have to do as much laundry."_

"_I'll have to bake her some thank you cookies."_

"_Make sure they don't have purple icing.." _

"_Right, too similar to the slushy she took for me."_

* * *

The rest of the day had been riddled with difficult assignments. Usually when it was time for Glee, Rachel was excited and ready to make progress with all of her friends. But today… She didn't know how she was going to make it. The day had been so terrible with Finn, the assignments, the threat of a slushy attack, her headache, and her endless thoughts. She didn't want to go to Glee and sing. Her head hurt too bad to listen to anything; all she wanted to do was get in her bed and sleep, and deal with everything another day.

She just shrugged and decided to sit in the back row with her eyes shut; she had already made it this far today, no point in giving up now.

It was about ten minutes into the class, and of course nobody had asked Rachel if she was okay. She knew it had to seem uncharacteristic to the others that she was sitting out, but if she was being honest with herself, she knew they were probably enjoying the break from her. However, Rachel could feel a certain blondes eyes on her; she could feel the concern in them, but appreciated that the blonde was respecting her wishes.

Mr. Shue's voice rose above the others in the room, "Alright, guys! Settle down! Quinn, Santana, and Brittany have prepared a song for us."

Rachel peeked open an eye, and wondered when the trinity had changed; Quinn had changed from her usual sundress to a more comfortable laid back outfit, similar to the one Rachel had complimented Quinn for earlier in the week. The other two were dressed casually, and stood to the side in the background leaving all the focus on the shaggy, open Quinn. And then, Rachel realized it.

This wasn't just Quinn Fabray in front of her and the whole Glee club. It was Lucy Charlie Quinn Fabray. It was all of Quinn. It was every single part of the struggling girl, open and showing for the entire world to see. The blonde wasn't wearing her usual perfect sundress, and her hair was shaggy and messy, unlike the usual, perfectly styled way Quinn usually had it during school hours. This wasn't the Quinn that was about appearances. This was the Quinn that was about laughter, life, writing, singing, smiling, dancing, and the Quinn that let her heart open up and shine through with all the compassion and love that many people didn't know Quinn could possess.

Rachel sat up straighter, and her breath caught when the most vulnerable, loving eyes met hers. Her headache vanished almost instantly.

"This song is for someone I care deeply about. I really messed up and hurt them, and I want them to know exactly how I feel for them. I never meant to hurt them, but sometimes life doesn't go as planned. This song is for them, and I hope that when it's finished they'll know exactly where my heart lies."

Rachel gripped the side of her chair, her knuckles going white from how tightly she was holding the rigid plastic. She wasn't prepared for this. Her heart was beating wildly out of her chest, and she was sure that all the Glee members could hear it. Quinn averted eyes from Rachel's, and closed them to concentrate for her cue from the music.

"Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you…" Quinn opened her eyes and met Rachel's. A flurry of emotions was flooding through Rachel. She wanted to be mad at Quinn, but she couldn't. Not with the way Quinn's soft, airy voice floated through the room, just for her. She barely acknowledged the other two girls swaying and singing back up.

"Shall I stay… would it be a sin… If I can't help falling in love with you,"

"Like a river flows surely to the sea… Darling so it goes…" Quinn's voice grew louder as she grew more confident and stood from the stool she was sitting on, "Some things are meant to be-ye-ye," A smile spread its way across Quinn face, and Rachel couldn't help but feel a rush of love, joy, and everything in between flood through her.

The music transitioned smoothly with Quinn's voice as another song's melody mixed with Elvis'.

"_Oh my Barbra, she made a mashup?!"_

"_I'm in heaven."_

Quinn walked around the stool, with the same smile on her face as she sang out the lyrics, "Pretty brown eyes, please come out today, so I can tell you what I have to say…" Quinn slowly climbed the rafters and looked deep into Rachel's eyes. Rachel was pretty sure she stopped breathing when that beautiful tremulous alto reached her ears, "That I love you, love you…

Pretty brown eyes."

Rachel stared into Quinn's glistening hazel orbs as the blonde sang, "Take my hand," the blonde held out her hand, and without even thinking, Rachel took the soft hand and stood when the hand beckoned her to do so.

"Take my whole life too…" The pair made their way down the rafters slowly, their eyes never leaving one anothers, not feeling the other pairs of disbelieving eyes watching their every move.

"For I can't help falling in love with you…" Quinn led Rachel to the stool and had the smaller girl sit on it. Quinn kneeled on her knees and took Rachel's hands in her own. Rachel didn't even think to reprimand the girl for having her back to the audience.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea," Quinn squeezed Rachel's hand and ran her fingers up the girls arm; Rachel was just a tad embarrassed that goosebumps were left in wake, Quinn seemed happily surprised, "Darling so it goes," Quinn looked up and met Rachel's eyes, and Rachel swore in that moment that Quinn had never looked so stunning.

"Some things are meant to be-ye-ye," Rachel squealed as Quinn lifted her off the stool, and she swore she heard Quinn suppress a giggle. Santana and Brittany came up beside Quinn and Rachel, their hands interlocked. The music picked up once more, and Quinn sang in a soft powerful tone as she spun Rachel in sync with Santana and Brittany.

"Pretty brown eyes," Quinn smiled, and again in perfect sync with the other pair, trailed a finger next to Rachel's left eye.

"Please come out today… So I can tell you what I have to say," The couples stared into their partner's eyes and swayed as Quinn's voice became softer, "That I love you, love you…" Quinn leaned in close to Rachel, and Rachel internally swooned as their foreheads pressed together and their eyes bore into one another with an unbreakable intensity.

"Pretty brown eyes…" Quinn whispered seemingly only for Rachel's ears.

And then the tears came along with a gigantic smile, and the couple cupped each others cheeks and cried happy tears because how could Rachel not be thrilled with _that_?

"I'm still mad at you," Rachel laughed softly and searched Quinn's ecstatic eyes who gave a soft smile and nodded gently in acknowledgement.

"I know, and I promise to give you any space you need and do anything you want me to, and I promise to be the best I can be for you, and to always tell you everything right away, and t-"

Rachel rolled her eyes playfully and smiled, "And you say I talk too much?"

Rachel immediately pulled Quinn in for a searing kiss. Her heart felt so alleviated. She was still mad at Quinn for lying, but how could she deny Quinn after that? Besides, with all the thinking Rachel had done earlier, she was more than certain that the blonde had only been doing what she thought was necessary. It doesn't mean it was right, but Quinn was apologizing in her own way and going above and beyond to show Rachel how much she cared. Sure the music had been a bit old-school and a bit unconventional, and Rachel was sure that half of the class didn't know what song the second part of the mashup was, but Quinn was laid back, and old school, and unconventional and Rachel loved Quinn that way. Odd, unique, quirky. She didn't pick a mainstream song. She had picked two songs that represented her, and Rachel loved that Quinn had done that.

Rachel vaguely heard Santana and Brittany's cheer, and a couple of slow, uncertain claps from around the room. All she was focused on were Quinn's lips moving against hers. It felt _amazing._ Invigorating, but blissful; Smack-in-the-face-here-I-am, but ethereal; the calm before the storm, but the storm itself; when you jump into a cold pool, but the same as when you're warmed by the fire. It was all so beautiful, majestic, and heavenly; yet so powerful, strong, and mighty. The kiss was surging with power, and Rachel felt as if she had just been filled with helium; she was floating on air, the breath was knocked out of her lungs, and her mind was happily delighted. She never wanted to stop kissing Quinn; never wanted to stop kissing the girl of her dreams; the girl she loved.

Rachel tried desperately to keep her lips pressed to Quinn's even as she ran out of oxygen, but she knew the effort would be futile if she didn't want to pass out. The couple gently pulled away, and blushed at each other before joining their hands and turning towards the others.

Puck, Mike, Sam and Artie were all staring slack jawed, (_"typical boys"), _Mercedes and Kurt looked like they had just seen a UFO, Finn looked like he was about to blow a socket, and Mr. Shue looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Brittany and Santana sauntered up beside them with their pinkies linked. The blonde had an excited smile on her face and Santana had a happy, but smug, grin on her face.

"Does this mean we can all go out on double dates now?"

Rachel smiled up at Quinn when she heard Brittany's question, and Quinn looked down at Rachel with radiant eyes and a large smile of her own, "Of course we can, Britt," answered Quinn.

Rachel faced the other New Directioners once more, "Hello, everyone. As you may have noticed I was a bit decommissioned at the start of class, but needless to say, I am feeling much better now."

She heard Quinn chuckle next to her and squeeze her hand as she continued on, "There have very recently been some new developments," She tried to hold back a smile when Quinn laughed next to her (because yes they were 2 minute old developments that took place in front of all the New Directioners eyes).

"Quinn and I," Rachel looked up at Quinn, and the blonde nodded with a happy smile that appeared as if it would never leave the blondes face (and Rachel hoped it wouldn't), signaling Rachel that it was okay. Rachel looked back towards the others again with a beaming smile, "Are officially in a relationship, as of now."

Rachel should have known not to expect cheers and confetti and cake (though she really did feel like having a party), but she didn't expect absolute silence.

She felt like she was in her dream again, except this time it wasn't Charlie next to her, it was Quinn, because she felt like she could feel every single thing about Quinn's movements. She felt the girl's demeanor change and looked up to see the girl raise a vicious eyebrow at the group. Immediately the others began clapping and cheering the new couple on.

Rachel's heart fluttered.

"_Awww, she's using her HBIC glare to help get what I want."_

"_I can't."_

"_This is all too much."_

"_So perfect."_

"_Much love."_

"_I want to kiss her."_

"_Yes, one more time."_

"_Kissie kiss time."_

"_Kiss kiss kiss."_

As if Quinn had read Rachel's thoughts, the blonde leaned down and kissed Rachel gently on the lips and broke apart with a goofy grin on her face.

Quinn whispered to Rachel, "I just want to let you know, that kissing you in person is so much better than in my dreams."

Rachel blushed and beamed with pride; that was, until Finn's looming form casted a shadow over Rachel.

She felt Quinn glare up at the boy, and was incredibly charmed when the blonde stood in front of her in a protective manner.

"Yes, Finn?" The blonde asked coldly.

"I want to talk to Rachel, alone," The boy gritted out angrily to Quinn.

"No, whatever you have to say to Rachel you can say in front of me. She and I aren't going to hide things from each other, so you might as well just say it now."

Rachel smiled softly and laid a hand on Quinn's back. She desperately tried to push back any inappropriate thoughts. Protective Quinn was getting to her, and it was _way _too early to be thinking of those kinds of things. She directed her attention up at Finn, who took away all disputable thoughts immediately.

"Quinn is right, Finn. What do you need to say?" Rachel glared up at the boy, still annoyed with him from this morning and for taking away more kissie kiss time with Quinn.

Finn huffed and stared directly at Rachel, ignoring Quinn completely. "I thought you loved me, Rach. We were the best thing at this school. You're like, really hot, ya know? And I am too. And then somewhere down the line we'd have hot babies. I love you, Rach."

Quinn practically growled at the boy and took a step forward, but Rachel held her back. "I got this, CQ."

Quinn softened and cocked her head towards Rachel at the nickname. Rachel softened, as well, and met Quinn's eyes with a gentle smile and half-whispered, "On your first post you said you don't always like to hear your real name.. so.." Rachel blushed, "I want you comfortable and you just tell me whatever you want to be called."

Quinn's eyes lit up and a toothy grin spread it's way across her face, "God, you're perfect, Rach."

They leaned in for a kiss just as Finn cleared his throat.

"_Damn it, Finn! I want my kissie kiss time!"_

Rachel glared up at the boy as she intertwined her fingers with Quinn's.

"Okay, Finn, listen up for once. Being in love is not all about looks. It's not all about how hot you are or how popular you are. That is not what love is," Rachel turned her eyes to Quinn as she continued, "Love is about seeing every part of a person. Love is trying to learn new things about one another everyday. Love is about remembering," Rachel shot a glare at Finn, "Important things, and not as important things. Mind you, Finn, things like being a vegan for Pete's sake!"

Rachel felt Quinn squeeze her hand and she turned her attention back to the blonde, "But, also things like what style of poetry a person writes in, and what their favorite flowers are," another glare shot to Finn, "Which are not pink daisies, by the way. Love is about finding adventures, and finding happiness. Love is about forgiving, growing, and learning, so you don't make the same mistakes again. Love is about caring even after a person does something wrong," Rachel kissed Quinn's cheek gently and Rachel swooned when she saw that Quinn was tearing up at Rachel's words.

The couple leaned into each other's sides and Rachel looked up at the lumbering oaf to finish off her tirade.

"Love is not leaving the 'person you love' stranded at night. Love is not forgetting that they eat by a certain set of rules. Love is not being together just for the sake of looking like the coolest couple. Love is not repeating the same things over and over and over again, because in love you are always striving to go further, to go somewhere new, to gain new experiences and lessons with the one you love. I'm afraid you don't know what love is, Finn. I don't love you. And you don't love me. You think you do."

"But, come on Rach. We are meant to be! We like belong to each other. I was your first kiss right? That basically means you're like.. mine right?"

Rachel was about to punch the boy, but Quinn spoke up first, "Listen here you pipsqueak in a oafs body, Rachel does not _belong_ to anyone. Just because you kissed her first, does not mean that she is _yours._ You don't get to take any person and just brand them _yours._ She's not even mine. She is her own person, with her own will, her own testament, her own beliefs. She and I are going to work in a partnership together, not rule over one another."

Rachel's heart was beating erratically out of her chest.

"_Hearing that was so much better than punching him."_

"_Quinn actually respects me as an individual."_

"_Love, love love."_

"_I need kissie kiss time."_

"_Wait, can I still punch him now though, please?"_

Rachel must have missed something because Finn was screaming out in agony clutching his jaw. Puck was waving his fist in the air from the impact and yelling at the boy, "Dude, fuck off! You don't treat women like that! What's wrong with you, bro? I used to think you were cooler than that, but apparently you think women are animals that are meant to be owned!"

Some New Directioners were clambering up to help the boy up, others were holding Puck back, and Santana just laughed at Finn in the background.

Rachel briefly wondered where the hell Mr. Shue was, but was more concerned about what Finn had said to make Puck explode like that.

She leaned into Quinn and whispered, "I zoned out. What happened?"

Quinn had a vicious glare in her eye directed towards Finn, "He said that no matter what we say that you're his. That he will get you back. That you are always going to be his. That he is the 'man' and that since you're the 'woman' you're below him. From what I gather, Finn was reminding Puck way too much of his father."

"One moment, CQ," Rachel kissed Quinn's cheek and walked over to Finn. His jaw was already bruising, and since the nurse had already gone home for the day, Kurt said he would go get a cold wet paper towel for the injured boy.

Rachel leaned down and growled low into his ear so only he could hear, "I am not your toy. I am not your meat. I am not your girl, woman, lover, or friend anymore. I am not someone you can pin after. I am not yours. I am not even Quinn's. I am myself. You need to grow up and learn some respect. Girls are not something you can just throw around and not respect. If I ever hear you say something like what you have to me, Quinn, or another girl, again, so help me God, I will cut off your little friend down there and feed it to the wolves. We'll see what a 'man' you are to yourself, then, because trust me, no one thinks of you as a 'man' right now. You're just a sad little pathetic child. Grow the _fuck_ up, Finn. All you are right now, is a horrible little asshole."

Rachel tapped the bruise on his jaw with a little more force than necessary, and gave the boy a glare along with her signature beaming smile. It made her look all the more scary, and she briefly thought how useful it would be if she were ever cast in a horror movie.

Rachel turned around and saw Quinn smirking, though still on edge and angry. She could tell that Quinn knew full-well what just happened. Rachel skipped over to Quinn and took her hand and smiled at Brittany and Santana who were standing besides Quinn trying to calm down the girl down. "Your part in the performance was lovely," she said even though she had barely paid attention to the two. She kissed Quinn's cheek, and the girl immediately dissolved from her angry self to a puddle of mush as she smiled back at the girl with such love, Rachel thought she would overload on how happy she was.

"Thanks, hobbit."

"Santana…" Quinn warned.

"Oh shut it, Q. You know I kind of like her.."

Rachel blanched at the omission, "You what?!"

"Nope, not gonna say it again," The latina smiled and winked at the new couple, "Let's go Brit. It's past our usually sexy times anyway. Glad you got your girl, Q!" The pair walked out with their pinkies linked, Santana whispering God-knows-what into the other girls ear.

Other New Directioners were still crowded around either Finn or Puck. Rachel walked over to Puck, "Thank you for defending my honor, Noah. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, hot stuff," Puck winked and Quinn growled playfully, "Back off, Puck."

The boy smiled cheekily and winked again, "Do I get to watch?"

Both girls blushed to the tips of their ears and screeched,

"Puck!"

"Noah!"

The boy just laughed, and curled his swollen fingers into a fist so that he could flex his biceps, "Alright, I respect your wishes," Rachel chuckled at his obvious stab at Finn, "But you don't know what you're missing, ladies."

Quinn rolled her eyes and kissed Rachel's temple, "How about we get out of here?"

Rachel nodded and guided Quinn to the door. The pair called out their goodbyes to the ones tending to Puck, and not Finn. Rachel thought they would have to really evaluate their friends and their beliefs toward women.

The new couple walked hand in hand to Quinn's car. Quinn leaned against the passenger door and pulled Rachel by the beltloops in her skirt to her with an elated smile on her face.

"_Hell yeah."_

"_That was hot."_

"_Kissie kiss time."_

The pair leaned in together and joined their lips. The kiss was soft and slow, each girl exploring the other's soft lips. Rachel felt Quinn's arms wrap around her waist, and Rachel wrapped hers around the taller girls neck. They kissed deeply, passionately, but took their time. Breaking gently whenever they needed a quick breath or wanted to tilt their heads the other direction. One of Quinn's hands danced lightly over Rachel's back, causing little electrical impulses to shoot to her heart, mind, and… well, elsewhere.

"_I really need to stop thinking these things. Way too early."_

The dancing hand ran up to Rachel's shoulder blade and maneuvered its way to cup her cheek. She leaned into the warm hand and couldn't help but smile into the kiss. It caused Quinn to giggle quietly, and soon both girls were giggling and leaning back to stare into each others eyes.

Quinn smiled goofily and brushed the soft, silky brunette hair behind Rachel's ear, "Where to, Princess?"

Rachel bounced on her toes in excitement, "Can we go to the park? I really want to swing on the swings with you."

Quinn smiled and opened the passenger door for Rachel, "Your noble steed, madam."

Rachel curtsied playfully, "Why, thank you, you gorgeous knight," and climbed into Quinn's red VW Jetta.

Quinn giggled as she shut the door and Rachel tried to hide a laugh as Quinn stumbled trying to scurry over to the drivers side. The two were walking on air, and Rachel never wanted it to end.

"_This day has definitely turned out better than expected."_

"_She's so cute."_

"_This is the start of something big, I can feel it."_

Rachel was ready for whatever was to come with Quinn. She was ready for the ups and downs. They had already conquered the largest thing - Quinn being herself. They had a lot to learn about each other and Rachel wanted to be there for the entire adventure.

She was still trying to grasp the whole Charlie/Quinn thing, but who was she to deny this love coursing through her? Quinn had apologized and came out to the entire Glee club just for her. And love, real love, is about forgiving when the other person truly deserves it. They had a lot to talk about and a lot to learn, but right now everything was bright. Everything was good. Rachel and Quinn, _"Or whatever the beauty wants to be called," _were on a road that was sure to have some bumps, but as Quinn intertwined their fingers and pulled out of the parking lot, Rachel was positive that what they had was meant to last and everything, absolutely everything, would be okay.

**A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Should this be the end, or shall there be an epilogue? Guys, I have had SO much fun writing this story. The feedback has been phenomenal and so inspirational. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the ending. Thank you all, for reading, reviewing, favoriting, alerting, and everything else. I can't express how amazing it has been writing this story. I've had a blast, and I want to thank every single one of you for coming along for the ride.**

**A/N2: I take no credit for the songs/lyrics. I Can't Help Falling In Love goes to Elvis, and Pretty Blue Eyes (I just changed it to brown) goes to Steve Lawrence. If you wanna see how the two songs go together, I think I'll be posting an audio of me singing it on my tumblr because that's just what I do lol. Just search "Meeting Charlie Q" and it should be on soon.**


	15. An Empress of a Flower

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Because many people asked for the story to be continued… This is for you guys. The story will be continued! Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.**

Quinn looked down at her navy blue lace dress and smoothed it out before she knocked on the door of the Berry household. She couldn't help but bounce from foot to foot in nervous excitement. It had been exactly one month - _"it feels like so much longer" -_ since she and Rachel had become a couple, and she could barely contain her joy.

Since the couple had gotten together, Quinn's life had become better than she had ever hoped for it to be. Her self-loathing was gradually fading away, she got to kiss Rachel whenever she wanted to, her mother was going to an AA group, graduation was a week away, she had been accepted to Yale, and soon she would be able to perform with the girl she loves and her best friends at Nationals.

"_Life f-in rocks."_

The girl didn't hide her smile when the two Berry men opened the door.

"Quinn! What a surprise to see you here!" Leroy exclaimed.

"Yes, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Hiram asked with a playful smile. Quinn played along, knowing full-well that both men knew exactly why she was here.

She stood up straight and lifted her chin in the air trying to look tough and eligible enough for their daughter.

"I'm here to pick up Rachel for our date tonight, Sirs."

The amusing couple who had grown to be father figures in Quinn's life circled Quinn playfully appraising her.

"Hmm… Hiram, does she look alright to you?"

"I'm not sure, Leroy, something doesn't seem right…"

Quinn was trying her best not to laugh and she knew she had been caught as Hiram said, "You may be correct, I mean look at how red and tense her face is…"

"True, true, but her eyes are very jovial and pretty…"

"She does have enough muscle to defend our little star…"

"She is dressed modestly and appropriately…"

"Definitely better looking than that Flynn boy…"

"Much smarter too, dear."

"Ah hah! I know what's missing!"

"What might that be Hiram," Leroy asked with a silly smirk as the two advanced towards Quinn.

"A hug!"

Quinn tried to run with a laugh before being bombarded by the hugs and forehead kisses but it was too late, Leroy lifted Quinn up by the waist and spun her around in a tight hug and Quinn had no choice but to throw her head back in laugh. She loved it here at the Berry household. She was included and felt loved by all three of the residents. She felt like she was already the daughter-in-law the Berry men had always hoped for.

"Daddy, put her down! You'll mess up her dress!"

Leroy put Quinn's feet back down on the ground and continued playing out his role as Rachel came down the stairs, "What do you think now, hun? Good enough for our Rachie?"

Hiram just laughed and gave Quinn a side hug, "Of course she is."

Quinn just smiled between the two. She had never felt this loved by her parents, and she doubted that she would ever being to express her gratitude to the Berry men just how much it meant to her that they had taken her under their wing as soon as Rachel had announced their relationship to them.

Quinn turned her eyes to Rachel for the first time that night and her breath caught in her throat. Rachel was wearing a black button down dress that flared slightly around mid-thigh, with matching black heels. Her hair was in soft curls, with her bangs to the side. She had simple silver earrings on, along with her Star of David necklace. Rachel looked _stunning_.

"_Oh… my… gracious…"_

"_She's absolutely gorgeous."_

"_I can't even think straight."_

"_You never can, you only think gay."_

"_Oh my god, shut up, I'm focusing on how _beautiful_ my girlfriend looks."_

The blonde stepped towards the girl and taking the brunettes hand in her own, kissed the girls knuckles; her eyes never leaving the other girls.

"Oh Leroy, look, she's chivalrous too," The short man said with a cheekily grin.

Quinn blushed and intertwined Rachel's fingers with her own. She played out the rest of their improvised script with a faux-serious face.

"Mr. Sir and Mr. Sir, I would be honored to take your daughter out this evening, with your permission, of course."

The men glanced at each other and looked around the room as if they were weighing the pros and cons.

"Ehhh….." The two men said together.

"I'll have her home by curfew?"

"Oh, alright, since you make such a convincing argument, go on and have fun."

Quinn and Rachel both squealed and ran to the doors as best as they could in heels.

"Thank you Mr. Sir and Mr. Sir," Quinn called out with a grin before exiting through the door with her beautiful girlfriend.

"See you tonight, girls!"

"Bye, Dad, Daddy!" Rachel called out beside her. Quinn led Rachel to the passenger door and replayed their first afternoon together.

She leaned against the passenger door of her car with a smile and pulled Rachel to her by the hips, "Okay, so I'm pretty sure your dads wouldn't like it if I just made out with you right here, but I wanted to relive our first few moments together."

Rachel just laughed and kissed Quinn's cheek, "Well, I wouldn't mind if you made out with me."

Quinn just pushed back from the car and opened the door for Rachel, "I don't want this night cut short is all. Your noble steed, madam."

Quinn felt a goofy grin spread its way across her face as Rachel played along and curtsied, "Why, thank you, you gorgeous knight."

Quinn raced around to the other side of the car - even making sure to stumble a little bit - and climbed into the drivers side. Quinn's heart was racing, tonight was going to be a special night. No, they weren't going to do _that_. Not yet, anyway, it was still too early in their relationship for that, but Quinn had a special plan for tonight. She was going to sweep Rachel off her feet all over again, and she sent off a quick prayer that everything would go smoothly.

The blonde intertwined her fingers with Rachel's and looked over at the girl, "Hey, Rach?"

"Yeah, CQ?" Rachel turned to look at her and stroked her thumb against the top of her hand. Quinn still managed to feel flutters at the nickname Rachel had for her. It always reminded her of the beginning and so helplessly in love she had been with Rachel; and she still was in love with Rachel, but it wasn't helpless anymore. It was clawing and striving and growing and stretching for miles, never stopping or ending.

Quinn brought their entwined hands together and kissed the joined hands, "You're a very special person in my life, and I hope this night is as magical for you as you being in my life is for me."

She bit her lip to hold back a smile at Rachel's speechlessness. It was always her favorite pass time to find words that would make the usually-ranting girl speechless; but of course, it was even better to know that she always meant the words she said to Rachel. It was more than true that Rachel was incredibly important to Quinn, but tonight, Quinn wanted to find a way to show her.

Quinn turned the car on and turned on her CD player. Immediately the confined space was filled with the distinct melody of _Don't Rain On My Parade_.

"Quinn! We don't have to listen to Barbra just because she's my favorite, you know that. I know she isn't your favorite, I want this night to be about the both of us."

Quinn just chuckled as she continued to drive to the first place on their agenda for the night, "Oh trust me, the girl singing this song is definitely my favorite."

"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter, life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter," the voice sounded through the speakers and Rachel's jaw dropped.

"Quinn, is that me?"

The blonde just smiled and nodded, "I thought it was time that the one and only, fabulous star, Rachel Berry had her own album."

Rachel squealed and turned the volume up as her voice resounded through the car.

"Oh my god, this is amazing! I have my own album? How did you get the recordings? I'm pretty sure I never just sat down and recorded an album."

Quinn just smiled at Rachel as she pulled up to a red light, "Well, this song is from the video recording of us at Nationals. Some of them are from Sectionals, and a lot of them are from your myspace recordings. Your voice is phenomenal Rach, if you get past all the copyright stuff I'm one hundred percent sure that you could make a lot of money selling those CD's."

Rachel just squeezed her hand and began singing along happily to the sound of her own voice.

* * *

The pair pulled up to Quinn's first place for the night just as Rachel was belting out the last note of _Defying Gravity_. The blonde was pretty sure was defying the laws of physics because she felt as if she was walking on air. Her heart was light, and she felt that the only thing grounding her to the Earth was Rachel's hand.

When the recorded Rachel and the real Rachel finished their note perfectly, Quinn turned off the car and gently helped the brunette out. Quinn admired the way Rachel's face lit up as she realized where they were.

"The theatre?"

"Something we can both enjoy together," Quinn smiled as she led the way to the ticket booth, "Two for tonight's show, please."

The blonde thanked the ticket master as she took the vouchers and kissed Rachel behind the ear before they walked into the foyer. She grinned at Rachel's blush and led them to their seats.

"What's the play tonight?" Rachel asked as they settled into the cushioned chairs. Rachel played with Quinn's fingers and was proud that she didn't mind if people saw when she kissed Rachel's temple.

"One of my favorites; Annie."

"Oh, yay! It's one of my favorites too." Rachel leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder and Quinn happily began to run her finger through the soft locks.

"I know, I saw your Favorite Musicals list on your blog. Sadly, Funny Girl wasn't scheduled on the Lima Theatre's upcoming shows. And don't worry, I already filed a complaint with them about it."

Quinn gently ran her fingertips up and down the chuckling, but blushing, brunette's arm, just as amazed as she was a month ago when goosebumps followed her trail.

Just as the lights dimmed and curtain began to lift, Quinn whispered into the brunettes ear, "I love you, Rach."

And as the first notes of _Maybe_ began filtering through the air, Quinn felt a flood of warmth come over her as Rachel whispered back, "I love you too, CQ."

The girls emerged laughing and giggling, talking animatedly about the play and how much more amazing Grace could have been if Rachel had been cast the role.

The climbed in the car, and Quinn smiled over at Rachel, "Hungry?"

Rachel nodded and rubbed her stomach playfully, "Famished."

Quinn threw the car in drive and headed off to their next destination, "Well let's get that settled, love."

* * *

Soon the couple arrived to a gravel road. Quinn drove down until they couldn't see the main road or any city lights.

"Uhm, Quinn, I'm sure this is a romantic plan, but where are we?"

Quinn just smiled and leaned over the console after she parked, and kissed Rachel slowly and passionately.

"No worries, my love, trust me."

Rachel nodded and left a lingering kiss to Quinn's lips. Together, the pair emerged from the car and Quinn walked over to take Rachel's hand.

Quinn watched Rachel's face intently, and smiled when Rachel's jaw dropped and tears filled her eyes. The blonde turned her attention to the scene in front of her. She smiled at how well everything looked. She had given Santana and Brittany strict instructions to have everything set up before they arrived and it looked like they had fulfilled their duty.

Rectangular lit paper lanterns of various colors outlined a path to a blanket that was lit with a battery powered lantern. Gardenia petals were scattered along the path between the lanterns, and Quinn let Rachel walk in front; wanting to watch the brunette take in the scene before them.

Rachel turned back to Quinn with a disbelieving laugh and a delighted sparkle in her eye, "You did all of this?"

Quinn walked slowly back to Rachel, not wanting to rush one second of this, "I had a bit of help, but yes."

She intertwined their hands and pressed her lips against Rachel's softly. Quinn put as much love and feeling as she could into the kiss. She gently slid her tongue against Rachel's bottom lip asking for entrance, which the brunette was happy to oblige to the request. Quinn released one of her love's hand and placed her free hand on Rachel's lower back, bringing the smaller girl closer.

Their tongues met, and Quinn swore that the earth was tilting on its axis, just like she had imagined all those weeks ago. The hand on Rachel's back moved to tangle in Rachel's hair as the kiss became more passionate and needy. Quinn was putting her all into this kiss. She wanted to show Rachel that she was in this for the long haul. She wanted to show that she truly loved Rachel, and that there would be no more hiding, ever.

It had been difficult for Quinn to open up this past month, mostly out of habit; but soon the girls would spend any chance they could get talking and telling old stories. Quinn hadn't yet spoke to Rachel about her father, but she was extremely thankful that Rachel never pried.

The couple pulled away gently and walked hand in hand over to the blanket, which Quinn was happy to see that it had the picnic basket on it that she had handed over to her two best friends earlier that day.

The pair sat and kept stealing shy glances at one another as they enjoyed the silence and Quinn pulled out the silverware and plates. She handed some to Rachel, and pulled out the Tupperware containers that held their dinner.

Quinn pulled off the plastic tops and began to decorate the plates with various foods and sauces. The blonde was happy to find that the food was still warm, and that Rachel trusted her enough to not ask whether or not the food was vegan.

"Oh my _god_, this is _amazing," _Rachel practically moaned out, "What is this?"

The blonde smiled fondly as she looked over the shadows, contours, and highlights of Rachel's face illuminated by the small lantern between them. She took a sip of water from her chilled water bottle and handed one to Rachel before she spoke, "Well, I believe what you ate was the, totally vegan, fettuccine alfredo."

Quinn looked around on Rachel's plate and pointed to various items as she listed them off, "This is my best attempt at a risotto, it has peas and mushrooms, and I'm not totally sure I did it right, but I tried my best. Here, we have simple salsa with some pita chips. I realize it's not the best cohesive meal, but I just wanted things that tasted good."

The blonde blushed when Rachel chuckled, "It amazes me that you can sometimes talk more than me."

Their eyes connected and it was as if something was holding them there because Quinn felt as if she couldn't look away.

"_Rachel just looks so beautiful…"_

"_The way her eyes are shining…"_

"_I love her."_

"_I really, really love her."_

"Rachel, I love you."

Quinn was mesmerized as a spark flew through Rachel's eyes and the way the girls breath caught; the way the brunette's eyebrows raised and the way the girls smile grew slowly and steadily as she let Quinn's words flow through her. Quinn admired the way the girls lips slowly began to form into the words, "I love you too."

They looked at each other for a few moments longer, taking in the true gravity that the words held. Rachel placed her hand over Quinn's, and the blonde was sure that tonight was the best night of her life thus far.

The pair continued to eat in silence, Rachel's fingers between Quinn's. They reveled in how comfortable the quietness was, honing in on the soft chirp of crickets and the sound of moving currents from the lake that didn't lay too far away.

* * *

After they had finished their dinner, the couple had turned off the lantern and laid back against the soft fabric beneath them to revel in the dark blanket of night that surrounded them; for all the paper lanterns had dimmed or blown out from the occasional gust of wind.

Quinn hummed quietly under her breath as Rachel laid her head against the blondes chest. Instinctively, her fingers threaded through Rachel's hair and ran through it slowly and comfortingly, up and down.

"Mm, if you keep doing that I'll fall asleep," sighed Rachel quietly.

Quinn hummed in response, but continued anyway. Her mind was running with things that had happened this past month, and recalled how happy she had been during that time. She thought back to her first date with Rachel, and smiled gently as she remembered the memory.

"Remember our first date?" Quinn asked quietly as not to disturb the peace.

"Of course I do," Rachel responded sleepily, "It was amazing and so sweet. Just like tonight, but with impossibly more jitters. The simple coffee shop and the hours we just sat and talked together. I wasn't big and fancy, but it was still special because we were with each other. I loved it."

Quinn kissed the top of Rachel's head and replied gently, "I did too."

They both closed their eyes, listening to the shallow breaths that left slowly through their mouths.

"Do you mind if I ramble, Sweetheart?" Quinn asked quietly and she felt Rachel smile against her.

"Me? Of course not."

Quinn drew a deep breath in through her nose, and brought her hand that wasn't going through Rachel's hair, around the smaller girls waist drawing her closer.

"I never thought I would be doing this with you. I imagined watching you from a far for the rest of my life. I imagined watching you on the television as you accepted your first Tony Award, and crying as I watched you have the night you always imagined come true. I imagined sending my prayers to whoever would listen, that you would somehow, some way feel my love and pride in you while you were on that stage.

"I never believed that I had a chance with you, but by some magical twist of fate, you were the one to tell me that I did have a chance. Rach, you're my one," Quinn paused to kiss the girl on the top of the head and smiled when Rachel kissed below her collarbone.

"And I know we have only been dating for a month, but I have never, ever felt this magnitude of love towards anyone. I want this relationship to grow and flourish. I don't want to mess this up. You're the one thing in my life that has meaning. I know I'm not out to my mom yet, or the whole school, but I just want to reassure you that I am not ashamed of you. I will do whatever you need me to do. I want to make you happy."

And suddenly, Quinn was off. She was off in her Charlie world, letting herself flow out to Rachel through words and poetry that she didn't mean to actually happen.

"Rach, you're like a flower growing through my heart. You creeped in with a single bud, but soon you bloomed into an empress of a flower; spreading your vines, leaves, and petals throughout the cavities of my body and through the veins and arteries and capillaries. I had died in resentment and sadness, accepting the fact that my life would never reach a happy place, but you were the electric shock that brought me back to life when I was sinking into an abyss that wanted to swallow me whole and rip me apart into shreds of nothingness. The parts of me that had already been consumed by despair were repaired by you without you even knowing it.

"The words you sang, the words you spoke, the words you wrote, were all things that healed me. But know, my love, that you saving me is not the only reason my heart shines and goes out to you. My love for you is filled with multitudes upon multitudes of reasons. Rach, you're the stars in this sky above us, and the lights that shine on this Earth. You're the plants that grow, and the life that walks it. You're like an explosion of confetti, ya know?"

The blonde slowed her movements through Rachel's hair, and smiled at her soft chuckle from the confetti part. Quinn spoke breathily in pure amazement, "So vibrant and diverse. Your influence spreads everywhere. Even the people that claim to dislike you, must admit that you have talent. They know damn well that you're going to be one of the few people to actually leave Lima and make something of themselves."

Quinn stared up at the billions of stars that shined down upon them, and then turned to look at the star that lay against her, "You're made of starlight, and stardust, and atoms, and a complex code of DNA. You're so unique. So talented, creative, and so incredibly special. No one can compare, and I feel so incredibly honored that you have chosen me to spend your time with."

Rachel looked up and Quinn's breath caught for the millionth time as Rachel's eyes connected with hers. So much love was shining through them, even though the couple laid in complete darkness. There was no need for anymore words between the two because they had a silent communication. They knew that they were in this for the long haul, and they knew the love that they held for each other even after such a short amount of time. They knew that they would go a far as they could possibly go in this relationship, and they knew that they were going to have a damn fun time while on the way. They understood that life would throw obstacles at them, but they knew more than anything that they would jump over hurdles together; hand-in-hand.

They leaned forward and brought their lips together in a deep passion. They expressed through their lips that they understood the pros and cons of being in this relationship. They pushed how much love they held through that kiss to show that they didn't care what consequences were to come throughout the coming years; they would find a way.

Quinn cupped Rachel's cheek, and the brunette cupped Quinn's neck. Their lips glided over one another and soon their tongues were fighting each other playfully; exploring and searching for all the special spots that would drive the other crazy.

Quinn gasped as Rachel's leg swung over her body, making it where the brunette was straddling her loosely. She gripped Rachel's hips, gently massaging them as time went on.

* * *

Their lips were swollen when they pulled apart and Quinn was mesmerized by how sexy and gorgeous Rachel looked with her hair framing her face and her body over her own.

"Hi," Rachel breathed out breathlessly, biting her lip slowly and sensually.

"_Oh… my… god…"_

"_If she does that again I might not be able to control myself."_

"_That was fucking hot."_

"_And.. so.. so… amazing.."_

"_Lord, give me strength."_

"Hi," Quinn breathed back.

Quinn's heart fluttered as Rachel's smile lit up the night. Their lips melded once more and Quinn couldn't help but think, _"Yeah, life f-in rocks."_

**A/N: So! There you have it; the beginning of the continuation of the story. It wasn't _too_ fluffy was it? I was thinking of adding this as a sequel, but I wasn't too sure, so I posted it here. Do you guys think my writing has changed? I feel like I've changed POV's somehow when I write either Quinn or Rachel. Hm. Anyway, I would love to hear your feedback. Thank you for reading! I desperately hope you liked it, and I hope you'll stay along for the continuing journey!**


	16. Road to Nationals Part A

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: Hello everyone! I know this chapter is short, but it is definitely one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it too! Thank you all again for reading and reviewing. You're the core of the story, and what keeps it going. Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.**

"_Where are they, where are they, where are they?!"_

"_Checked the back of the closet?"_

"_Yes! Twice."_

"_Desk drawer?"_

"_Yes, three times!"_

"_Under the bed?"_

"_Yes. Damn it. I need my sheet music!" _

Rachel was frantically flying around her room at the speed of light. After her _amazing_ date with Quinn, Rachel had snapped into her _"Oh my god Nationals is three days away; we are not nearly prepared enough; where the HELL are my throat lozenges" _self.

While digging through her closet for her sheet music, the girl briefly admired how supportive her girlfriend had been during her craze-phase.

"_I'll have to bake her some cookies."_

Rachel groaned as she emerged from her closet fruitlessly, and though she usually wouldn't sidetrack from her National's craze, her phone had buzzed and who knew who it could be, right?

"_Speak of the devil,"_ she thought as she smiled.

She opened up the new text message and blushed at the words.

**CQ: Hey, Sweetheart! Just wanted to remind you to not too worked up and wear yourself out today. I know you're excited and worried, but I promise that Glee is ready to take that stage. Remember that you also need to be well rested to perform, so don't go too crazy okay? We'll have everything we need.**

Rachel rolled her eyes good naturedly and replied quickly.

**Rachel: We're on the verge to Nationals and you expect Miss 'Diva' to not be going crazy? ;P But, still, how can you say such a thing when I can't find my sheet music!**

The reply was almost instantaneous.

**CQ: Check your purple folder ;***

Rachel sprinted across her small room to look for said folder, but deflated when she realized her folder wasn't in the usual spot.

**Rachel: I can't find the folder :(**

**CQ: That's because you moved it on your vanity last night during your "Oh my god, Nationals! Let me put everything here so I see it when I do my hair and won't forget it" haze run.**

Rachel's eyes went wide and she almost slipped on her hardwood floors as she ran to the bathroom connected to her room. As expected, the purple folder was exactly where Quinn said it would be.

**Rachel: Oh my god, you're a lifesaver! I love you so much thank you!**

**CQ: Love you too ;P Remember to not go too crazy, and to rest! I'll be there to help finish packing and pick you up at 6:00 sharp tomorrow morning.**

**Rachel: No promises ;) See you then! xoxo**

Rachel sighed happily, hugged the folder to her chest and maybe - just maybe - kissed the cover of it. She walked back to her room and sat on the edge of the bed reading the various papers the folder held.

"_Time to run some scales."_

Rachel hummed and right as she opened her mouth to let out what she was sure to be the best scales she's _ever_ sung, her fathers hollered up the stairs, "Rachel! Honey, dinner is ready!"

The girl held back a growl, placed her folder down, and walked over to the stairs where Leroy was looking up and waiting for her.

"Daddy, this is simply not the right time for dinner! I have to run scales, recount all my dresses to make sure I packed them all, find a good way to stuff all my shoes in my luggage, print out copies of the sheet music because I can promise you that half of the Glee club has already lost their copies, bake Quinn some cookies, practice my dance routine, record my Myspace video, _and_ update my blog! I simply don't have the time!"

Rachel huffed as Leroy rolled his eyes, "Come down and eat. You need to have your strength up to do all of that dancing and singing tomorrow. A balanced diet is the first stepping stone to success; you know that."

The girl deflated and nodded, "Okay, I concede, you're right. May I please practice my scales first, though?"

Leroy just chuckled, shaking his head, "Alright, but don't blame me if your food is cold when you get down here."

Rachel squealed and hurried off to her room, "That's what microwaves are for, Daddy!"

* * *

Rachel's phone rang at exactly 6 o'clock in the morning the next day. The already exercised, showered, dressed, and primped, Rachel Berry smiled and picked up her phone, "Rachel Berry's phone."

She heard Quinn smile through the phone, "Hello Ms. Berry. I wanted to inform you that I have arrived and I am refraining from knocking on the door as to prevent from waking your fathers."

Rachel twirled her hair around her finger as she giddily made her way down stairs to the front door, "The door will be opening in 3… 2… 1…" Rachel opened the door with a big smile before she ended the call with Quinn and flung herself in the girls arms.

"I missed you so much, you look so cute when you're still tired."

Quinn flailed playfully as Rachel attacked her face with kisses.

"I'm not cute!"

Rachel giggled and pulled her inside, closing the door behind them, "Yes, you are. Now come on."

Rachel led the other girl upstairs and began rambling in her normal fashion.

"Okay, so, I have everything I need packed, but I think I'm going to double check everything again. I printed off everyone's sheet music again because we both know Puck and a few others can't keep their things organized for the life of them. I have my iPod, a blanket we can share on the drive up there, my digital camera, an extra notebook we can play silly games on or write in, I have a couple of books, I have my wallet, some Midol just in case one of the girls needs it, some CD's, hmm let's see what else… Oh a small pillow so maybe we can take a nap, my toiletries, a first aid kit, my lucky towel, the cookies I baked you, I have three dresses for our routines, about eight pairs of shoes for all occasions, sleeping clothes, running clothes…"

"Breakfast clothes, lunch clothes, dinner clothes, winning clothes, and losing clothes, too, right?" Quinn asked playfully with an amused glint in her eyes as she leaned against Rachel's desk with her arms loosely crossed.

Rachel just cracked a smile and swatted at Quinn's arm, "Oh, shush."

"It looks like you have everything, Rach. You'll be the best prepared out of all of us," Quinn said with a soft smile, "Relax, okay? Just for one moment. For me?"

Rachel sighed and tried desperately to resist Quinn's puppy dog eyes. When the glistening sweetness of her girlfriends puppy dog face won over, Rachel sighed and slouched her shoulders, "Alright, what could a moment hurt?"

"That's my girl," Quinn smiled and wrapped her arms around Rachel, kissing the shorter girl's forehead, then nose, and finally, lips.

The kiss was soft and slow, and Rachel desperately craved more.

"_If I'm taking a moment's break, then I'm taking all I can get."_

"_Damn right, I'm Rachel Barbra Berry. I'm going to kiss the hell outta my girl."_

Rachel leaned into Quinn, and grazed her fingertips over the girls naval and was happily surprised when the blondes breath hitched.

The brunette moaned quietly when Quinn's tongue swept over her lip and happily obliged to part the barrier between them. Her fingers threaded into blonde hair, and pulled the girl impossibly closer. Their tongues met at first in languid strokes, but soon the couple was fighting for dominance. Rachel sucked Quinn's tongue firmly, and Rachel smirked as best as she could in that position because Quinn's knees had gone weak and she had won the battle.

Wanting Quinn to take a little more initiative and not be afraid to push boundaries, Rachel gently placed her hand on Quinn's and began moving it from her hip upwards. For the first time in their relationship, Quinn's hand touched Rachel's breast, and even though it was over the shirt if Rachel could hear Quinn's thoughts all she would be hearing is, _"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, good things, good things, yes, oh my god."_

The couple's kiss deepened in a heated passion as Quinn's hand slowly began to knead the soft area under her palm. Rachel moaned at the sensation, and began to move her hand to return the favor. Her fingers skirted under Quinn's breast, causing the blonde to bite Rachel's lip and pull lightly. Rachel swore the moan that fell from her lips was not of this world, and dove in to kiss Quinn harder and deeper.

Both girls moaned in unison as their hands began running all over the upper sections of their bodies. Rachel began moving her hand down from the middle of Quinn's back, hoping to reach a more… _supple_ area, that was, until a loud knock resounded throughout the room.

Both girls shot back from each other as if they had been on fire. Not because they were ashamed from going as far as they did or getting lost in each other, but from fear of being caught doing something so intimate by Rachel's dads.

"Girls?" Hiram called from behind the door, "Are you decent?"

"We just want to come hug you goodbye before your trip," said Leroy.

Rachel just sighed and muttered unhappy things as she made her way to the door. Quinn just stood their stock still, her face as red as a beet.

"Yes, Dad, we're decent," Rachel said as she swung her door open a bit more forcefully than she intended.

"Woah there, honey? A bit worked up, I see?"

Rachel blushed as she heard Quinn chuckle behind her.

"I suppose you could say that, Daddy."

All hostility of being interrupted left her as her fathers engulfed her in their arms. She was going to miss them not driving up with her. A lot. Her dad, Hiram, wasn't going to be able to make the nine hour drive to New York to watch them perform at Nationals because he had an important surgery scheduled for today; and while Leroy would be able to make it out by plane (arriving even earlier than the New Directioners), Rachel knew that she would miss her Dad more than anything.

The family stepped into a semi-circle and motioned for the still-blushing Quinn to join them. Rachel smiled as her little family hugged it all out. Today was going to be an amazing day; she had everything packed, her Daddy would get to see her, she had touched Quinn Fabray's breast, and she… she was going to be late!

"Oh my god," Rachel glanced over to the clock on her nightstand, "We're going to be late!"

"_6:43?"_

"_How long were we kissing oh my god!"_

Everyone quickly pulled out of the hug to let Rachel run her madness. The Berry men and Quinn just stared at the racing brunette fondly.

"Why are you all standing there! Let's go!"

Leroy just laughed and winked at Quinn before going to grab the two rather large suitcases off Rachel's bed. Soon, after saying a few more short goodbyes, Quinn and Rachel were speeding off to McKinley High to meet up with all the other New Directioners.


	17. Road to Nationals Part B

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters.**

**A/N: I apologize profusely for taking so long to update! D: Forgive me, I beg you! I've had an extreme case of writer's block. Currently unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.**

Quinn groaned internally as the bus she had currently been stuck in for three hours grew louder and louder.

"_Why can't people just talk."_

"_I have no clue, but it's f'in aggrivating."_

"_Seriously. Why do they have to scream over each other."_

"_They are literally sitting a couple seats away."_

"_It can't be that hard to just speak and not yell."_

The blondes head rolled against the cold window as the bus flew over a bump. She sighed happily as she minor screams died down along with the rest of the talking. That was until Finn decided to rile everyone up again with a screech that sounded like it was from a pterodactyl.

"What the hell, dude?" Puck laughed along with Artie.

"It was quiet," Finn replied with a gassy look on his face.

"_Oh look, I'm Finn and just because I'm as large as a f'in train I should screech like one too."_

"_I'll give him a good ass reason for him to screech."_

"_Yeah; knee him right in the balls."_

"_Oh wait,"_

"_He doesn't have any."_

"Quinn?"

The blonde slowly lolled her head to her right shoulder to look at her girlfriend, "Hm?"

"You're muttering things to yourself," Rachel said with an amused smile.

The blonde let out a breath and whispered, "I'm just getting agitated with all the noise. I don't know why I had thought that it would be a nice drive up there."

Rachel intertwined her fingers with Quinn's and kissed the girls knuckles softly, "I'll see what I can do to get everyone to quiet down, okay? We do have a big day ahead; with all the driving and then rushing to get ready for our performance. I think we should all rest up."

Quinn just nodded and pouted as Rachel stood up in the aisle, effectively taking away Quinn's warmth and comfort.

"What are you doing? Come back here."

Quinn childishly, but cutely (thought Rachel), stuck her arms out and and grabbed the air with her hands, "Commere."

The blondes pout quickly turned into a small grin as Rachel began to babble on to the other Glee clubbers; getting an idea of what she was doing.

"Attention! Attention!" The bus became silent with a few annoyed whispers and remarks.

Quinn didn't know how long the silence would last, and she relished in every second of the relaxing quiet.

"Fellow Glee members. I think it would be wise if we all settled down for a while and tried to catch up on some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us, you know! It is vital for all of us to be in our utmost physical condition and that means that we all need to be rested sufficiently. We need to rest our ears, as well, to make sure that they are well tuned for when we perform tonight; so we may know exactly when we should take our cue. Furthermore, by screaming over one another you will stress out your vocal cords greatly! Thus, you will diminish our chances of winning greatly! I for one-"

Santana groaned loudly and threw her hands up, "_Ay dos mios_! Berry, shut the hell up!"

Quinn glared at her best friend as Rachel smiled, "I would love to, as long as you all - as you so kindly put it - shut the hell up too."

Half of the cabin's residers jaws dropped, and Quinn just tried to hide her smile.

"Did she..?" Came from Mercedes.

"Oh my Prada, I think she did," replied Kurt.

"Oh no she didn't!" Santana stood, ready to show her was Lima Heights Adjacent was _really_ about. Brittany's strong arm wrapped around the girl and said quietly, "San, I am pretty tired. Can't we nap together?"

Instantly Santana deflated and nodded to blonde, "Of course we can."

She turned back to Rachel with a sharp glare, "Okay everybody. You heard the hobbit. Lay back and relax. Put your damn earbuds in. Just stay quiet. Me and Britts gonna get are sleepy time on."

Rachel leveled Santana's glare with a victorious smirk as she walked her way back next to Quinn.

"That was amazing," Quinn said as she nuzzled into Rachel's side.

"Anything for you, sweetheart," Rachel whispered as she kissed the top of the blondes head.

The next thing Quinn knew, she was fast asleep in a dreamland full of flowers, sunlight, and happiness.

Quinn awoke to firm jab to her cheekbone.

"Ouch… Rachel.. stop it."

Another jab.

"Rachel, damn it, stop it."

Her arm immediately lifted to push away Rachel's hand. Her palm came in solid contact to a scraggly, rough cheek - obviously she wasn't awake enough to realize she had reached out too far… and obviously not awake enough to realize that the scratchy cheek did not belong to Rachel.

"Oh my god, Rachel! What happened to your face?"

The blonde felt around some more and slowly opened her eyes to a beaming Puck.

"Ack!" The blonde jumped, effectively making poor Rachel, who had been sleeping against Quinn's shoulder, jump and fall into the aisle with a loud "thump!" and anguished squeak.

Quinn scrambled up, made sure to give the laughing Puck an angry glare, and helped her frowning girlfriend from the floor.

"I'm so sorry, baby, Puck startled me."

The still sleepy brunette nodded as they settled in their seat again.

Quinn took the brunette in her arms and looked back at Puck, who was still laughing.

"Go away, Puck."

"What? Baby Mama doesn't want to talk to Puckasaurus?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "No. I was gladly talking to a purple parakeet in my dream. She was far more fascinating than whatever you would ever want to talk about."

Puck clutched his hand to his heart, "That's painful, Quinn. Painful."

Quinn bit back a grin and growled, "Go away."

Puck just winked, "You know you love me."

"Noah, I believe she loves me. Now go."

"What? I can't get on the lovin's between you two? I could really add something… special; if you know what I mean."

"Take that back right now, Noah!"

Puck just chuckled and finally got up to go sit next to Finn at the front of the bus.

Quinn sighed and pulled Rachel closer, "How long until we get there?"

Rachel smiled and looked at the clock on her phone, "Should be about four hours left - not including the stops we will take. Then we have a couple of hours to freshen up, and then! We perform!"

Quinn nodded with a soft smile, "We're gonna do great. I just hope we don't stop too often now that we've been in this bus so long. I'm surprised we have made it this far without stopping seventeen times."

"It's quite the achievement, yes."

"_Earlier this morning was an achievement."_

"_Fuck yeah, second base."_

"_I can't believe she took my hands… and like… directed me, ya know?"_

"_It's Rachel. Of course she would take control."_

"_It was so hot."_

"_My hands fit onto her so perfectly."_

"_It felt amazing for her to touch me too…"_

"_I've never just.. _given_ myself like that."_

"_It was freeing, and awesome, and special."_

"_Especially since it was with Rachel."_

"Wanna know a secret?" Quinn leaned closer with a sudden spark in her eyes as she looked into Rachel's.

"What?" Rachel asked, biting her lip the way she knew drove Quinn crazy.

"_Uuunff… that lip bite.. I want. I want those lips. Preferably now."_

"I realllllyyy want to kiss you," her hazel eyes drifting to eye Rachel's lips.

"Then why don't you?" Rachel husked out.

Quinn desperately tried to hold back a moan, _"Fuck. She's so sexy."_

"Because we're in a bus full of our friends."

"So," Rachel smirked and Quinn almost gaped at her girlfriend, "Brittany and Santana make out all the time in front of all of us. I think we should get to."

Quinn licked her lips and shifted between looking at Rachel's eyes to her lips.

"_I do really want to kiss her…"_

"_Her lips look so plump…"_

"_And inviting…"_

"_And oh so perfect."_

"_Our lips go so well together."_

"_They were like.. made to kiss each other."_

"_I'mma do it. I.. I'm gonna do it."_

She could practically feel the cockiness of making her cave radiate off of Rachel as their lips melded together in a firm, yet _"so_ _soft"_, kiss. Quinn's hand cupped behind Rachel's ear, and gently massaged the skin she found there. The pair got as close as they could without being on top of each other, and struggled to keep their moans to themselves.

For what had seemed like a minute to Quinn (because she wanted oh so much, _"more")_, but had really been about seven, the Glee club had gawked at the sight before them. They still weren't used to the couples relationship, or even the fact that Rachel and Quinn could be friends without killing each other - let alone kiss each other! They whispered amongst each other, and when Quinn finally began to register that "_hey it should be louder in here. I hope we didn't take a pitstop and we're the last couple in here. I kinda have to pee," _she pulled back and looked around slowly.

Her eyes widened as everyone gawked at her, "What?"

"That was so hot."

"Oh, can it Puck," Said Rachel with a smug grin.

"That was super hot," Brittany said ignoring Rachel and nodding to Puck.

Santana just glared at Quinn, but the blonde could tell it didn't quite go to her eyes.

Mercedes and Kurt were desperately trying to not look in their direction, Artie and Sam had books covering their laps, Finn looked constipated, Mr. Shue was surprisingly not looking and was paying attention to the road, and Tina? Well, Tina was actually still sleeping.

"Okay…." Quinn said after everyone continued staring at them - or trying not to, "You guys can look away now."

After a couple seconds longer, everyone continued on with their previous activities. Quinn sat her back against the window, and held her arms open for Rachel. The smaller girl climbed into Quinn's lap, her back against Quinn's front. The pair closed their eyes and listened to the hum of the bus' engine and the wooshing of passing cars.

"_This is nice."_

"_Yeah, even though people look at us like we're oopah loopahs sometimes."_

"_Well, besides that."_

"_Rachel and I fit so well together."_

"_We're like puzzle pieces."_

"You're my puzzle piece, Rachel," Quinn whispered so only the brunette could hear.

Rachel smiled and turned slightly so their eyes could meet, "You're mine, too."

They shared a sweet kiss to the sound of Puck's cat call.

"OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO PEE," Santana screamed as she lugged out hers _and_ Brittany's baggage.

Brittany giggled and jetéing her way across the parking lot, as all the others dragged their feet behind her - all except Rachel of course who was back in "oh my god, NATIONALS" mode and holding hands with the sluggish Quinn.

"I'm so excited, so excited, so excited," Rachel muttered to no one in particular. Quinn just smiled at her fondly, that was, until Rachel decided to blow out Quinn's ear drum by screaming to everyone else even though they were two feet away, "Are we all ready?! Do we have everything we need?!"

"Ow, Rach," Quinn said as she rubbed her ear.

Rachel didn't even notice and pecked Quinn's cheek before running off to take over Captain responsibilities.

Quinn sighed, but couldn't help it as an admiring smile graced her face.

Her eyes followed the racing brunette everywhere she went, as she talked to the other members, the front desk staff, the bellhop, and other people who were just staying at the hotel.

"_Such a busy body."_

"_A cute busy body." _

The group made their way up to their rooms. Through Rachel's instruction, though they all agreed with her (_"this time"_), they all decided to take a thirty minute power nap, grab a light meal, and then head down the the hotel's auditorium to prep for their performance.

"No more than thirty minutes everybody! We have to be prepared!"

Everyone grunted as sound of approval and entered their rooms.

"Do you think they listened to me?" Rachel asked, as she turned to Quinn with panicked, wide eyes.

"I don't think they listened to me, Quinn. What am I going to do? We can't win if they don't listen to me!"

Quinn chuckled at Rachel's ego and grabbed her hand as she led her to the bed, "Rach, everything is going to be fine. Come on," she said as they climbed on top of the soft comforter, "let's nap."

"But.. but what if we aren't ready, what if everybody is just here so they can get the school day off, what if - mmph!" Quinn pressed her lips to Rachel's to get her to be quiet.

"Sweetie," the blonde whispered against Rachel's lips, "Everything is going to be okay. Trust me, I promise."

Rachel sighed and looked over the blondes face. With a soft nod, she curled into Quinn and within seconds, the couple was fast asleep.

**A/N: ….okay that wasn't my best chapter :( I hope you liked it anyway.. I'm sorry for the long updates. I don't really know where I want this story to go now.. I have an idea, I just don't know what to use to get there… also, all the guys in my story seem to be pigs oy vey. Anyway, I thank you for sticking with this story, for reviewing, and for reading. You're my biggest inspiration **


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